Moving towards a South-South International Health: Debts and challenges in the regional health agenda.

HERRERO MB

CIêNCIA E SAúDE COLETIVA

ABRASCO

Año: 2017 vol. 22 p. 2169 - 2174

1413-8123

Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to investigate the increased interest in health as an important dimension of the foreign policy and diplomatic concerns together with the emer¬gence of a new framework for regional health in¬tegration and regional health diplomacy. Second, it seeks to understand the role and practices of new regional blocs in the field of health and whether they are conducting to the emergence of new strat¬egies for addressing health regional policies in South America. The regional policy process relates to health as a right. Thus, some practices and pro¬cesses in social policy are setting new standards for political and social cohesion in the construction of new regionalism. Health crosses national, re¬gional, and global agendas in a multi-directional fashion, rather than via one-way, top-down policy transfer. A special feature of Unasur is upholding regional health sovereignty despite the unique fact that member countries retain national autonomy. Unasur has projected foreign policy that promotes social values in ways that seem innovative. Expe¬rience as Unasur shows that regional organisms can become a game changer in global diploma¬cy and an influential actor in the international agenda.