Neoliberalism Redux: The Global Health Policy Agenda and the Politics of Cooptation in Latin America and Beyond

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the neoliberal cooptation of social justice‐oriented global health policies over the last three decades, from primary health care and ‘health for all’ to various contemporary so‐called ‘health equity’ initiatives, such as Universal Health Coverage and ‘health convergence’. The authors illustrate and contextualize the different periods and approaches with examples from a range of Latin American countries, drawing on diverse political experiences and social struggles in the health arena. The analysis concludes with reflections about the region's experiences of resisting and challenging the neoliberal health agenda, in spite of domestic and global environments that have constrained these efforts, past and present. In this sense, the struggle for bona fide equity in health and health policy remains an important and ongoing priority.