Universal health coverage and capital accumulation: a relationship unveiled by the critical political economy approach

Mario Hernández-Álvarez (), Juan Carlos Eslava-Castañeda (), Liliana Henao-Kaffure (), José Orozco-Díaz () and Luis Edgar Parra-Salas ()
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Mario Hernández-Álvarez: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Juan Carlos Eslava-Castañeda: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Liliana Henao-Kaffure: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
José Orozco-Díaz: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Luis Edgar Parra-Salas: Universidad Nacional de Colombia

International Journal of Public Health, 2020, vol. 65, issue 7, No 2, 995-1001

Abstract: Abstract Objectives To analyze the fundamentals of the global health agenda from 1944 to 2018, especially regarding Universal Health Coverage, in order to unveil its relations with capital accumulation in health services and to contribute to world social mobilization to change this tendency. Methods A historical study was carried out based on a purposeful selection of primary sources on the global health agenda from multilateral organizations and secondary sources about the changes of capitalism from the study period. Results The global health agenda changed from the state responsibility for health to an insurance healthcare system based on markets. The medical–industrial complex pressured national economies, broke postwar pacts, and urged economic globalization. The neoliberal, neoclassical, and neo-institutional discourse that promoted a new state–market relationship eased the new capital accumulation in healthcare into financial and cognitive capitalism. Conclusions Understanding these relationships allows us to provide elements for social mobilization geared to transform the healthcare sector toward a new vision of health with a nature–society relationship that contributes to socially constructing human and environmental health, rather than gaining profits based on illness and chronic suffering.

Keywords: Universal health coverage; Healthcare systems; Medical–industrial complex; Healthcare financialization; Cognitive capitalism; Global health agenda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s00038-020-01437-9

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