Estimating the value of democracy relative to other institutional and economic outcomes among citizens in Brazil, France, and the United States.

How much do citizens value democracy? How willing are they to sacrifice their liberties and voting rights for growth, equality, or other social outcomes? We design a conjoint experiment in nationally representative surveys in Brazil, France, and the United States in which respondents choose between different societies that randomly vary in their economic outcomes (country income, income inequality, social mobility), political outcomes (democracy, public health insurance), and the level of personal income for each respondent. Our research allows us to estimate the respondents' willingness to trade off democracy for individual income (as well as other societal attributes). We find that, on average, individuals are strongly attached to democracy and a robust welfare state. They prefer to live in a country without free democratic elections only if their individual income multiplies by at least three times and in a country without public health insurance only if their individual income more than doubles. After estimating these preferences at the individual level for all respondents, we show that, although there is an authoritarian minority in all three countries, forming a nondemocratic majority (by offering more income and/or other goods to respondents) is very unlikely. Our findings imply that, contrary to a growing discussion about the crisis of democracy, liberal democratic values remain substantially robust in high and middle income democracies.

No evidence that social-democratic welfare states equalize valued outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

It is acknowledged that generous welfare states can provide better outcomes to their populations in terms of objective and subjective indicators of well-being, yet there is little comparative evidence of the role that the welfare state regime plays in lessening disability-based inequalities. Using a large comparative data set of most European societies, Tukey's honestly significant difference and generalized Hausman tests for six welfare state regimes, we examine the assumption that social-democratic countries perform better in mitigating disability-based inequalities than conservative, liberal, Southern, Eastern European, and the former Soviet Union welfare state regimes. We compare the valued outcomes for individuals with and without disabilities regarding their education, labour market participation, material well-being, and life satisfaction. The main finding of this study is that the most generous welfare states in Europe do not perform better, and in some cases, perform worse, than other less comprehensive welfare state regimes in closing the gap in valued outcomes between individuals with disabilities and the rest of the population. We discuss potential explanations of these inequalities such as the nature of expectations and changing characteristics of welfare state regimes, and difficulties related to measuring disabilities across European societies.

Democracy, green energy, trade, and environmental progress in South Asia: Advanced quantile regression perspective.

Unquestionably, the industrial revolution of the twenty-first century contributes to global warming. Excessive amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere are responsible for global warming. Therefore, this research aims to assess the impact of GDP, green energy consumption, population, trade openness, and democracy on CO2 emissions in four selected South Asian countries from 1990 to 2019. This research also attempts to evaluate the EKC hypothesis in terms of economic growth (GDP2). The unit root of panel data and cointegration tests are executed in this study as a prelude to the regression analysis. Quantile regression for panel data, which (Powell, 2016) devised to deal with the fixed effect problem, is used in this study, and (Powell, 2016) empirical findings are the main focus. The estimated coefficient of GDP is positively significant, demonstrating that economic activity increases the burning of fossil fuels and upsurges atmospheric CO2 emissions. After attaining economic development, the reversed U-shaped EKC theory is valid for four selected South Asian countries. Economic development encourages these countries to use green technology, which helps mitigate CO2 emissions. The research, however, reveals that green energy is to blame for CO2 emissions. Burning biomass releases carbon dioxide that negatively impacts the quality of the environment. The study confirms that human activities are the leading contributor to environmental deterioration. Population growth has a worsening effect on the environment. The association between population and CO2 emissions is positively significant. The estimated coefficient of trade openness is positive, which increases CO2 emissions significantly. The estimated coefficient of democracy is quite negative. Therefore, this study suggests prioritizing democracy to reduce CO2 emissions. Citizens who live in democracies are better informed, more organized, and able to protest, all of which contribute to increased government responsiveness to environmental preservation. The results of the Wald test support the differential effects at various quantiles. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel causality tests are also used in this analysis to check causality between variables. Based on the findings, this research makes many policy suggestions for lowering carbon emissions.

The Road to Universal Coverage: Where Are We Now?

The following was written as a commentary on an article we published in our Spring 2023 issue, "'Comprehensive Healthcare for America': Using the Insights of Behavioral Economics to Transform the U. S. Healthcare System," by Paul C. Sorum, Christopher Stein, and Dale L. Moore. This commentary should have appeared alongside that article. We apologize to the authors and our readers for the error.

Democracy, information, and communication technology infrastructure and environmental quality.

Environmental degradation is an urgent global concern. While previous studies acknowledge the substantial effects of both democracy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on environmental quality, their joint effects remain underexplored. Addressing this gap, our research investigates the individual and synergistic effects of democracy and ICT infrastructure on environmental quality. Utilizing the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, we assess a panel dataset from 152 countries between 2003 and 2019. Our results indicate that both democracy and ICT infrastructure advancements substantially improve environmental quality. Furthermore, an enhanced ICT infrastructure augments the positive effects of democratic practices on the environment and vice versa. However, when ICT infrastructure is insufficient, the positive influence of democratic systems on the environment becomes negligible, and similarly, without a solid democratic foundation, the benefits of ICT infrastructure on environmental quality are diminished. This underscores a synergistic relationship between democracy and ICT in fostering sustainable environmental progress. Consequently, our study offers significant insights into the multifaceted interplay between democracy, ICT infrastructure, and the environment.

Interdependent Determinants of Health and Death? Examining the Linkages between Health Equity, Human Rights, and Democracy during COVID-19.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been characterised by health inequities in differential rates of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality and differential access to essential COVID-19-related health care interventions such as vaccines. Inequities through the pandemic have deeply illuminated the interdependence between health inequities, human rights, and democratic leadership and the imperative to delve more deeply into these key determinants of health, illness, and death. Methods: In this paper, we consider what COVID-19 suggests we should be learning about the relationships between democracy, human rights, and health equity. We first elaborate on the growing prominence of the framework and discourse of health equity. We turn to elaborate on a longer-standing trend of democratic backsliding and populist leadership during COVID-19. We consider human rights violations and domestic and global inequities that have characterised COVID-19 and COVID responses. Findings and conclusions: The pandemic has illustrated how rights-violating, negligent, and inequitable political leadership can deeply determine health outcomes. It has equally shown how democratic norms and institutions, including human rights and equity, offer discourse, standards, and tools that can be effectively used to challenge inequitable leadership on health. More fundamentally, it underscores how great the need is for approaches to public health emergencies rooted in human rights, equity, and good governance, including through a pandemic treaty in negotiation.

Pela democracia e saúde: uma trajetória de múltiplas vozes e da ecologia de saberes / For democracy and health: a trajectory of multiple voices and the ecology of knowledge / Por la democracia y la salud: una trayectoria de voces múltiples y la ecología del conocimiento

Em entrevista à Reciis, a médica sanitarista Lucia Souto conta como seu trabalho em medicina comunitária a motivou à pesquisa científica, a fim de compreender as desigualdades que persistem no Brasil. Atuante em diversos movimentos populares e conferências nacionais voltadas à área da saúde, a pesquisadora faz um panorama sobre a trajetória das conferências nacionais de saúde, particularmente da 8ª à 17ª, realizada neste ano de 2023. Considera que houve um aumento da participação popular na garantia do direito à saúde. A sanitarista afirma que uma sociedade democrática não pode existir sem uma popularização radical dos meios de comunicação e informação, nos quais se manifeste uma pluralidade de vozes e uma ecologia dos saberes. Lucia Souto é chefe da Assessoria de Participação Social e Diversidade do Ministério da Saúde

In an interview with Reciis, public health physician Lucia Souto tells how her work in community medicine motivated her to pursue scientific research to understand the persistent Brazilian inequalities. Active in several popular movements and national conferences focused on health, the researcher provides an overview of the trajectory of national health conferences, particularly from the 8th to the 17th held this year (2023). She considers that there has been an increased popular participation in the guarantee of the right to health. The public health expert states that a democratic society cannot exist without a radical popularization of the means of communication and information, in which a plurality of voices and an ecology of knowledge are manifested. Lucia Souto is head of the Social Participation and Diversity Advisory Office at the Ministry of Health

En una entrevista con Reciis, la médica sanitarista Lucia Souto cuenta cómo su trabajo en medicina comunitaria la motivó a realizar investigaciones científicas para comprender las persistentes desigualdades brasileñas. Activa en varios movimientos populares y congresos nacionales centrados en la salud, la investigadora ofrece un panorama de la trayectoria de los congresos nacionales de salud, en particular del 8° al 17° celebrado este año (2023). Considera que ha habido una mayor participación popular en la garantía del derecho a la salud. El experto en salud pública afirma que no puede existir una sociedad democrática sin una popularización radical de los medios de comunicación e información, en la que se manifiesten una pluralidad de voces y una ecología de conocimientos. Lucia Souto es jefa de la Asesoría de Participación Social y Diversidad del Ministerio de Salud

Iniquidades em saúde e determinantes políticos: olhar crítico acerca das relações, déficits e assimetrias / Health inequities and political determinants: a critical look at relations, deficits and asymmetries / Inequidades en salud y determinantes políticos: una mirada crítica acerca de las relaciones, déficits y asimetrías

Objetivos: identificar em que medida as iniquidades em saúde sempre foram integradas por injustas distribuições de poder, quais seriam as facetas principais dessa assimetria e em que realidades práticas elas mais se manifestam. Metodologia: revisão crítica de documentos produzidos em conferências e projetos internacionais relacionados à governança em saúde, aliada à revisão narrativa de textos científicos que tangenciam as temáticas neoinstitucionalistas. Resultados: desde a percepção inicial sobre os determinantes sociais da saúde, fez-se referência a determinantes políticos (em especial, a injusta distribuição de poder). O projeto Global Governance for Health evidenciou convir que os determinantes políticos sejam tratados em separado, pois, em certa medida, são os determinantes dos determinantes sociais. Os principais déficits políticos que afetam a tomada de decisão na área da saúde e impedem que sejam superadas as iniquidades em saúde são cinco: a) representatividade; b) transparência; c) adaptabilidade; d) intersetorialidade; e) regulação. As situações em que esses déficits se mostram mais evidentes são sete: i) diante da necessidade histórica de medidas de austeridade financeira; ii) no âmbito das políticas protecionistas dos detentores de propriedade industrial e intelectual; iii) na seara dos acordos de investimentos; iv) no âmbito do mercado de alimentos; v) diante da opção de deixar certas atividades corporativas desreguladas, vi) frente a opção de excluir os migrantes das tomadas de decisão; vii) diante da violência armada. Conclusão: o não enfrentamento das disfunções políticas de governança da saúde faz com que sejam mantidas as iniquidades de saúde e até mesmo cria ou agrava novas iniquidades.

Objectives: to identify the extent to which health inequities have always been integrated by unfair distributions of power, what would be the main facets of this asymmetry and in which practical realities they are most manifested. Methods: critical review of documents produced at international conferences and projects related to health governance, combined with a narrative review of scientific texts that touch on neo-institutionalist theme. Results: since the initial perception about the social determinants of health, reference has been made to political determinants (in particular, the unjust distribution of power). The Global Governance for Health project has shown that political determinants should be treated separately, as they are, to some extent, the determinants of social determinants. The main political deficits that affect health decision-making and prevent health inequities from being overcome are five: a) representativeness; b) transparency; c) adaptability; d) intersectorality; e) regulation. The situations in which these deficits are most evident are seven: i) in the face of the historical need for financial austerity measures; ii) in the context of protectionist policies of industrial and intellectual property holders; iii) in the area of investment agreements; iv) in the context of the food market; v) in the face of the option to leave certain corporate activities unregulated; vi) in the face of the option to exclude migrants from decision-making; vii) in the face of armed violence. Conclusion: failure to address the political dysfunctions of health governance means that health inequities are maintained and even creates or exacerbates new inequities.

Objetivos: identificar en qué medida las inequidades en salud siempre han estado integradas por distribuciones injustas de poder, cuáles serían las principales facetas de esa asimetría y en qué realidades prácticas se manifiestan más. Metodología: revisión crítica de documentos producidos en congresos y proyectos internacionales relacionados con la gobernanza sanitaria, combinada con una revisión narrativa de textos científicos que tocan temas neoinstitucionalistas. Resultados: desde la percepción inicial de los determinantes sociales de la salud, se ha hecho referencia a los determinantes políticos (en particular, a la injusta distribución del poder). El proyecto Global Governance for Health ha demostrado que los determinantes políticos deben tratarse por separado, ya que, en cierta medida, son los determinantes de los determinantes sociales. Los principales déficits políticos que afectan a la toma de decisiones sanitarias y impiden superar las desigualdades en salud son cinco: a) representatividad; b) transparencia; c) adaptabilidad; d) intersectorialidad; e) regulación. Las situaciones en las que estos déficits son más evidentes son siete: i) ante la necesidad histórica de medidas de austeridad financiera; ii) en el contexto de las políticas proteccionistas de los titulares de la propiedad industrial e intelectual; iii) en el ámbito de los acuerdos de inversión; iv) en el contexto del mercado alimentario; v) ante la opción de dejar sin regulación determinadas actividades empresariales; vi) ante la opción de excluir a los migrantes de la toma de decisiones; vii) ante la violencia armada. Conclusión: no abordar las disfunciones políticas de la gobernanza sanitaria significa que las desigualdades en salud se mantienen e incluso crean o exacerban nuevas desigualdades.

Panel data on the impact of democracy and political stability on economic growth in the MENA region over the years 1983-2022.

This panel dataset contains information collected from five distinct sources on the impact of democracy and political stability on economic growth in 15 emerging countries in the MENA region from 1983 to 2022. The dataset includes information about GDP per capita, inflation, trade, population growth, government expenditure, participatory democracy, deliberative democracy, egalitarian democracy, institutionalized autocracy, and political stability. Data analysis was carried out utilizing R statistical software to ensure the accuracy of the data by imputing missing data using the monotone REG approach, allowing future researchers to investigate the linkage between political factors and growth in various scenarios. Data are provided in two sheets, one containing the data before the missing value imputation and another after the monotone REG imputation. This dataset is a companion for an unpublished thesis titled "Democracy, Political Stability, and Economic Growth."

Democracy, economics, or health-Time to look to the east for leadership.

While the capabilities of the low and middle-income countries (LMIC) have always been defined as "doubtful" to deal with public health crises of Covid pandemic magnitude, a flip-flop and incoherent response by the high-income countries (HIC) was unexpected. In the unprecedented moment of the pandemic, it is that we are beginning to find among ourselves, across the globe a search for stronger, resilient, scalable, and economy-efficient foundations in health systems that are capable of delivering healthcare to all. The apparently underperforming international health bodies have only increased this willingness of individual nations to look towards multilateralism as the foundational principle for not just the exchange of ideas but to deliver on these. India, a vibrant and the largest democracy, has showed her willingness to overcome, for example, the limitation of the vaccines during COVID to a few by making availability and possible delivery of a safe and effective vaccine to populations across the world. This has not only been seen as a hope to surmount challenges through help from others but also as a show of human resilience in the face of adversity.

The Key Role of Social Movements in Protecting the Health of People and the Planet Comment on "Ensuring Global Health Equity in a Post-pandemic Economy".

In his recent article, titled "Ensuring Global Health Equity in a Post-pandemic Economy," Ronald Labonté addresses a key challenge the world is facing, trying to 'build back' after the global crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic. He explores and critically examines different policy options, from a more inclusive 'stakeholder model' of capitalism, to a greater role of states in shaping markets and investing in the protection of health and the environment, to more radical options that propose to reframe the capitalist mantra of growth and look at different ways to value and center our societies around what really matters most to protect life. Social movements are key players in such transformation, however the political space they move in is progressively shrinking.

Monitoring Surveys in the Context of Covid-19, Published in Belgium and France, in the Light of Health Democracy.

Introduction: The management of a pandemic, such as COVID-19, requires the full participation of citizens. This recent situation has revealed the undermining of user participation in the decision-making process. Thus, this study aims to assess the involvement of users in the design and administration of surveys for health crisis monitoring and to stimulate reflection on information processes shared upstream during the decision-making process. Methods: A literature search was conducted on population monitoring surveys published during the first containment period in Belgium and France between April and May 2020. The selected studies were first analyzed according to a reading grid based on the criteria proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for monitoring populations and supplemented by data from a descriptive analysis of the selected studies. Second, with the objective of specifically evaluating the involvement of users in monitoring surveys, this study evaluated the surveys according to the following parameters: content of a study based on themes presented in surveys; inclusion of health literacy (HL); and factors of commitment of the respondents to the survey. Results: A total of 45 studies were selected for final analysis. The majority of the surveys focused on the effect of COVID-19 on well-being. Furthermore, analysis indicated that, in summary, the HL of people concerned as well as the involvement of respondents is poorly considered, which remains limited in terms of the design and administration of the surveys. Discussion: Although the principles of health democracy seemed to have been established, the exceptional regime induced by the epidemic overlooked the observance of such principles. This result indicates the need to reconsider the participation of citizens as real partners in care, including health crisis management.

The roles of renewable energy, globalization, population expansion and deliberative democracy on Sustainable Development in South Asia.

South Asian region is extremely vulnerable to climate change which hampers its attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study explores how sustainable development of South Asian nations is affected by the clean or renewable energy consumption, globalization, population growth and deliberative democracy. To tackle the effects of shocks within the cross-sectional units as well as to account for endogeneity, this study utilizes Common Correlated Effects Mean Group-Generalized Method of Moments (CCE-GMM) estimation technique proposed by Neal (2015). Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCE-MG) of Pesaran 2006 and Augmented Mean Group (AMG) by Eberhardt and Teal (2010) and Eberhardt and Bond (2009) techniques are also utilized as robustness checks. The empirical results reveal that the consumption of renewable or clean energy can significantly and positively affect sustainable development, implying that deploying clean energy technologies is helpful to achieve SDG agenda in South Asia. Population growth is found to be hampering sustainable development while deliberative democracy ensures this development. The impact of globalization on sustainable development was found to be negative yet insignificant. Bidirectional causal relationship was discovered between sustainable development and renewable energy, between population and sustainable development, between deliberative democracy and sustainable development and between deliberative democracy and globalization. Finally, the study provides policy directions to achieve sustainable development in South Asia via enhanced integration of renewable energy in the region's energy mix.

The social and health protection of migrants in Chile: qualitative analysis of civil society proposals for constitutional change.

BACKGROUND: A sustained period of social, economic, and political unrest took place during October of 2019 in Chile. As an institutional solution, the "Agreement for Social Peace and the New Constitution" was signed. In this document, most political parties committed to reestablishing peace and public order in Chile, agreeing on the initiation of a constitutional process. To promote participation of civil society actors, the "Popular Initiative for Norms" was enabled. This was a platform where civilians could submit proposals for constitutional norms to be discussed by the Constitutional Convention. We aimed to analyze proposals related to migrants and migrant health. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of the proposals. Sixteen of them were related to migrants, and we analyzed their association to health. We also evaluated their link to the Health Goals 2030 set out by the Chilean Ministry of Health and the Global Action Plan 2019-2023 for Promoting the Health of Refugees and Migrants by the World Health Organization. RESULTS: Four main thematic categories were identified: 1) Humans rights of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers; 2) Nationality and regularization of migrants and refugees; 3) Political participation and cultural integration of migrants and refugees; and 4) Specific regulations on slavery and human trafficking. These resonated with broader frameworks established in the Health Goals 2030 (Chile) and the Global Action Plan 2019-2023 for Promoting the Health of Refugees and Migrants by the World Health Organization. CONCLUSIONS: The 'Popular Initiative for Norms' was a non-binding participatory mechanism. Although the proposals sent through were not guaranteed to be included in the constitutional draft-and despite the final draft being rejected last September 2022-the platform allowed to gain insights into civilian opinions. Our findings showed that there is an incipient yet weak recognition of the rights and situation of migrants in Chile. There was no direct mention of health nor an explicit contemplation of social determinants of health. Despite there being an urgent need to define strategies for migrants' health in Chile, this study demonstrated that civil awareness and interest are still insufficient.

The evolution of economic and political inequality: minding the gap.

The extent of economic and political inequality, their change over time, and the forces shaping them have profound implications for the sustainability of a society and the well-being of its members. Here we review the evolution of economic and political inequality broadly, though with particular attention to Europe and the USA. We describe legal/institutional, technological and social forces that have shaped this evolution. We highlight the cumulative effects of inequality across generations as channelled through wealth and inheritance but also through other intergenerational connections. We also review the state of research on the effects of inequality on economic growth, health and societal cohesion. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary ecology of inequality'.

Does the Faculty's Perception of Gender Discrimination Relate to Its Assessment of Organizational Democracy in the University?

This work aimed to study the relationship between the perception of organizational democracy and gender discrimination at a Chilean public university. It is known that organizational democracy is not only about organizational life but also about democratic perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors in social life, as found in academic contexts. The methodology used factor analysis and descriptive and inferential statistical techniques to analyze data from a survey administered to 704 university faculty members, with a response rate of 58.1%. The gender distribution of this respondent population was 67% male and 37% female, values equivalent to the Chilean public university system (60% and 40%, respectively). The results highlight the importance of gender perspective in higher education. Indeed, academics who perceive greater gender discrimination toward women appreciate the deployment of organizational democracy to a lesser extent. Moreover, a high perception of discrimination on the part of women is confirmed (46%), them being, in turn, the ones who show a greater predisposition toward gender equality. This research intends to contribute to the development of strategies to remove obstacles to gender equality and improve the commitment of the academic community to institutional progress.

'Scorched Earth: The portrait of health in Brazil after the Bolsonaro's administration and the first 100 days of the Lula Government in health'.

This article is a rejoinder to the rebuttal letter authored by Jair Bolsonaro's former Minister of Health and Secretary of Primary Care to our initial article, 'From Bolsonaro to Lula: The opportunity to rebuild universal healthcare in Brazil during the government transition,' published in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management. We aim to refute the claims that we consider unsubstantiated and disconnected from reality, while reiterating the risks posed by authoritarian and antidemocratic far-right governments, such as Bolsonarism in Brazil, to the sustainability and resilience of universal health systems. This political threat is gaining momentum across several countries worldwide, thereby endangering the Democratic Rule of Law, institutions, and social policies. Furthermore, we emphasise the significant actions implemented during the first 100 days of President Lula's government, which align with the priorities established during the governmental transition process and strengthen the prospects of reconstructing and fortifying the Brazilian universal health system.

Energy justice, democracy and deforestation.

This paper contributes to the debate on the determinants of deforestation, a menace that is posing threat to sustainable development particularly in tropical developing regions. Specifically, the paper focuses on the effect of energy justice and democratization. The main contribution to the literature hinges on the emphasis on energy justice - operationalized as rural-urban equality in access to electricity and clean fuels and technologies for cooking - and its interaction with democracy. Using a panel data of 47 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000-2020 and the dynamic two-step generalized method of moment estimator, the results generally indicate that improvement in rural-urban equality in access to electricity and clean fuels and technologies for cooking is associated with a reduction in deforestation. Democracy is similarly found to be associated with reduction in deforestation. The conditional effect analysis largely depicts an intensified reducing effect of energy justice on deforestation in the presence of improved democratic practices. The results though robust to an alternative estimator, the Driscoll-Kraay estimator, differ when sub-regional analysis is considered. The paper aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 7, 13, 15 and 16.

Changes in environmental degradation parameters in Bangladesh: The role of net savings, natural resource depletion, technological innovation, and democracy.

Most researchers consider CO2 emissions to be the primary indicator of environmental degradation. Similarly, ecological footprint appears to be a significant proxy for environmental degradation in recent research due to its multifaceted impact on the natural environment. With this in mind, this study investigates fluctuations in CO2 emissions and ecological footprint as indicators of environmental degradation in Bangladesh from 1980 to 2020, and how they are influenced by net savings, natural resource depletion, technological innovation, and democracy. The non-linear ARDL (NARDL)-based asymmetric analysis finds that positive changes in net savings, natural resource depletion, and democracy positively impact both parameters of environmental degradation in the long run. On the other hand, a positive change in technological innovation reduces these parameters in the long run. Likewise, negative changes in net savings and technological innovation reduce environmental degradation. In contrast, negative changes in natural resource depletion and democracy exacerbate these two parameters and degrade environmental quality in the long run. However, there are some variations in the short-run influence of the predictors on the predicted variable. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that policymakers must strategically exploit natural resources, net savings, technology diffusion, and democratic principles to preserve the natural environment in Bangladesh.

La democratización de los servicios de salud odontológicos / The democratization of dental health services

Introducción: el proceso de democratización en los servicios de salud en odontología y en todo el campo de la salud parte del acceso a la atención de la población, así como de la libertad de contar con información científica adecuada y suficiente para que la población cuide de su salud. Es compromiso del estado, de acuerdo con la constitución, poder contar con las condiciones políticas, económicas y sociales para el cumplimiento del mandato constitucional. Conclusiones: el sistema de salud no ha logrado desarrollarse en la población vulnerable porque requiere buena infraestructura, personal de salud, medicamentos, etcétera. Le corresponde al estado impulsar iniciativas para acercar y dar acceso a dicha población sin importar lo alejada que se encuentre, por lo que deberá apoyarse en el uso de tecnologías que le faciliten y permitan cumplir con la obligación constitucional que representa el derecho a la salud y con ello la democratización de la salud (AU)

Introduction: the process of democratization in health services in dentistry and in the entire field of health starts from the access to care for the population, from the freedom to have adequate and sufficient scientific information for the population to take care of their health. It is a commitment of the state according to the constitution to be able to have the political, economic and social conditions for the fulfillment of the constitutional mandate. Conclusions: the health system has not been able to develop in the vulnerable population requires good infrastructure, health personnel, medicines, etc. It is up to the state to promote initiatives to provide access to this population regardless of its remoteness, to rely on the use of technologies that facilitate and allow the fulfillment of the constitutional obligation that represents the right to health and thus democratize health (AU)