Reshaping Health Care in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of Health Care Reform in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico

In many countries of the world, including Canada, arguments are made for a private–public mix in the financing and provision of health services. Proponents claim that such a mix would improve both access and quality of health care. Opponents counter that it would create a two-tiered system, narrowing the range of options available to the lower socioeconomic segments of society and ultimately harming the equitable delivery of quality health care.

This book presents empirical evidence on this contentious and highly politicized issue. Uniquely, it integrates qualitative and quantitative analyses of health care reforms at various stages of implementation in three countries of Latin America. The book sheds light on important issues pertaining to accessibility and equity and, in its approach, sets precedents and provides guidelines for further comparative work on health care reform.

Reshaping Health Care in Latin America will appeal to academics, scholars, researchers, and students in health sciences, policy studies, Latin American studies, and international development. It will also be of interest to health practitioners, policymakers, and all citizens who follow the continuing international debate on the private–public mix in our health care systems.

The editors

Sonia Fleury holds an MA in sociology and a PhD in political science. She is currently a professor of public policy at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Brazil and was formerly a senior lecturer at the Institute for Social Development in Latin America of the Inter-American Development Bank. Dr Fleury is an expert in the field of social policy in Latin America and is the author of several books on the subject.

Susana Belmartino holds a PhD in history from the Faculté des Lettres, Université d'Aix, Marseille. Since 1984, Dr Belmartino has been a lecturer and researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina, where she now occupies the Chair of Contemporary Argentine History. Since 1978, she has been a researcher with the Centro de Estudios Sanitarios y Sociales (CESS) in Rosario, Argentina.

Enis Baris is a medical doctor with postgraduate degrees in community health (MSc) and epidemiology (PhD). Dr Baris currently works for the World Bank, where he is involved in health and development projects in the East Asia and Pacific region. He was formerly Senior Scientific Advisor, Health at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, Canada, and Executive Director of the Research for International Tobacco Control (RITC), a secretariat housed at IDRC.