COVID-19 pandemic and the regional health agenda in Latin America: Chronicle of a missed opportunity

• Herrero, María Belén ^[1] ; Beatriz Nascimento Lins de Oliveira, Beatriz ^[2]
  1. [1] Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO, Argentina)
  2. [2] Centre for Social Studies, Coimbra University (CES/UC)
• Localización: Sudamérica: Revista de Ciencias Sociales, ISSN-e 2314-1174, ISSN 2250-7779, Nº. 20 (Junio), 2024, págs. 335-356
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article analyses policy regional responses to COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and identifies the current limitations to cooperation efforts within regional integration mechanisms in the health sector, especially considering the access to vaccines and health technologies. A qualitative methodology was followed based on secondary data and document analysis. As a result, we found that the policy responses to COVID-19 have lacked a regional approach in Latin America. The worldwide crisis of multilateralism, the political distancing between countries and their resulting unilateral response were associated with a lack of coordinated actions and the undermining of a concerted strategy. Despite the different regional mechanisms and initiatives to deal with the pandemic, the results – being fragmented – have not been enough to elaborate effective responses to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a missed opportunity for global health to articulate agendas and for Latin America to rebuild its fragmented and weak regional cooperation.