Institutional overlap and access to medicines in MERCOSUR and UNASUR (2008-2018). Cooperation before the collapse?

The proliferation of international and regional organisations in the last decades led to increasing overlap of memberships and mandates in social policy areas. Whereas the literature has explored the benefits and perils of institutional overlap though neglecting the social policy dimension of such processes, studies on regionalism have focused on single cases of regional organisations. This paper breaks new ground by examining the effects of the overlap in membership, health mandates and institutional mechanisms between the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) between 2008 and 2018. It focuses on two cases of access to medicines: the creation of the medicine price bank and the price negotiation of high-cost medicines. Our argument is that the overlap was positive, leading to an incipient trend towards cooperation. This was facilitated by the membership structure, the expertise already accumulated in the region and the relations and networks among those involved in health regional cooperation. Overall, the article deepens our understanding of the conditions under which regional organisations, even in the context of institutional overlap, can contribute to adequately respond to transnational challenges, which, as global health, are not only persistent, but also profoundly affect our societies.

Collective health and regional integration in Latin America: An opportunity for building a new international health agenda.

From its origins, the Latin American Social Medicine and the Collective Health (LASM/CH) movements have focused on thinking about health from and for the region. After the implementation of neoliberal policies, social improvements and the geopolitical strengthening of the region became the roots of new regional integration projects in South America. The objective of this article is twofold. First, we explore the legacy of long-standing efforts in the region that address the social and political dimensions of health, associated with the LASM/CH movements and their influence on the contemporary regional health agenda. Second, we analyze the UNASUR Health policy, its role in the construction of a regional health agenda, and the principles of South-South cooperation it supports. In order to accomplish this, a qualitative analysis was conducted, involving primary and secondary data. Through UNASUR, a new framework of regional health integration and regional health diplomacy emerged in South America and a 'window of opportunity' opened for the ideas of Social Medicine and Collective Health to occupy a dominant place on the regional health agenda. It is possible to observe a confluence between the principles and values of these movements and those of the main constituent bases of UNASUR Health.

O Instituto Sul-Americano de Governo em Saúde e a Cooperação Sul-Sul

A globalização ampliou a interdependência entre países e exige dosEstados nação adaptar suas políticas domésticas à realidade internacional, poiscada vez mais problemas internos não podem ser solucionados integralmentesem a cooperação com outras nações e outros agentes. Na saúde, esta novanoção de interdependência nas relações internacionais e necessidade decooperação entre atores ativos na política internacional são evidenciadas com ocrescente número de instituições, de regimes internacionais e de organizaçõesinternacionais criadas nas últimas décadas. Na América do Sul, em contexto demudanças políticas e governos democráticos, foi criada em 2008 a União deNações Sul-Americanas (Unasul). Reconhecendo o lugar de destaque que asaúde vem alcançando na política externa dos países e nas agendasinternacionais, o segundo conselho ministerial setorial a ser constituído peloschefes de Estado da Unasul foi o Conselho de Saúde Sul-Americano. Um dosprodutos mais concretos deste Conselho foi a criação do Instituto Sul-Americanode Governo em Saúde (Isags). Esta dissertação teve por objetivo examinar oprocesso de institucionalização do ISAGS no período de 2011 a 2015, analisara sua atuação a partir da perspectiva da cooperação Sul-Sul, e identificar osdesafios para sua sustentabilidade. Trata-se de um estudo de caso a partir deduas estratégias principais de coleta de dados e fontes de informação: análisedocumental e entrevistas com atores-chave. Foram realizadas 16 entrevistascom informantes-chave de nove dos doze países membros do Conselho deSaúde Sul-americano e analisados documentos deste conselho e do Isags...

Globalization has increased interdependence between countries and hasrequired nation states to adapt internal policies to international reality since, allthe time more, internal problems cannot be entirely resolved without cooperationwith other nations or actors. In the field of health, this new idea ofinterdependence in international relations and the need for cooperation betweenactive actors in international policies are demonstrated by the increasing numberof institutions, international regimes and international organizations created overthe past few decades. At the beginning of the 2000s, in a context of politicalchanges and democratic governments in South America, the Union of SouthAmerican Nations (Unasur) was created. In recognition of the important role thathealth had been gaining in external policies and international agendas of severalcountries, the second Ministerial Sectorial Council formed by the Heads of Stateof UNASUR was the South American Health Council. One of the most concreteoutcomes of this Council was the creation of the South American Institute ofGovernment in Health (ISAGS). This study aims to to examine the process ofinstitutionalization of ISAGS in the period from 2011 to 2015, Analyze itsperformance from the perspective of South-South cooperation, and identify thechallenges for its sustainability. This is a case study, which uses two mainstrategies for the choice of information sources and data collection: documentanalysis and interviews with key actors. Sixteen interviews were conducted withkey informants from nine of the twelve member countries of the South AmericanHealth Council and documents from this council and Isags were analyzed...

Locating regional health policy: Institutions, politics, and practices.

Poverty reduction and health became central in the agendas of Southern regional organisations in the last two decades. Yet, little is known about how these organisations address poverty, inclusion and social inequality, and how Southern regional formations are engaging in power constellations, institutions, processes, interests and ideological positions within different spheres of governance. This article reviews academic literatures spanning global social policy, regional studies and diplomacy studies, and the state of knowledge and understanding of the 'place' of regional actors in health governance as a global political practice therein. It identifies theoretical and thematic points of connection between disparate literatures and how these can be bridged through research focusing on the social policies of regional organisations and regional integration processes. This framework hence locates the contributions of each of the research articles of this Special Issue of Global Social Policy on the regional dimension of health policy and diplomacy in relation to Southern Africa and South America. It also highlights the ways in which the articles bring new evidence about how social relations of welfare are being (re)made over larger scales and how regional actors may initiate new norms to improve health rights in international arenas engaging in new forms of 'regional' diplomacy.

UNASUR Health: A quiet revolution in health diplomacy in South America.

Since the creation of Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), health policies became a strategic factor in South America to collectively balance the legacy of neoliberal policies in the region. The aim of this article is first to describe the social, political, and economic processes that explain the emergence of UNASUR and its focus on social policy through healthcare. We then analyze how by virtue of UNASUR's Health Council, healthcare became the spearhead of cooperation giving way to novel forms of diplomacy. In so doing, this article contributes to a broader understanding of the regional health diplomacy and the process of unasurization of health policies as the process of building a new health framework.

Ensaio crítico sobre a cooperação internacional em saúde / Critical essay on international cooperation in health

Este ensaio discute as necessidades de cooperação internacional em saúde, o modelo dominante da cooperação neste campo, algumas alternativas ao mesmo − que inclui a cooperação Sul-Sul - e prognósticos para o cenário cooperação internacional, considerada parte da diplomacia da saúde

This essay discusses the need for international cooperation in health, the current dominant model of cooperation in the area, as well as a few alternatives to this model - such as South-South cooperation - and prognoses for the international cooperation sphere, considered a part of health diplomacy