The Underdevelopment of Health or the Health of Underdevelopment: An Analysis of the Distribution of Human Health Resources in Latin America

Abstract

In this presentation it is postulated that the present maldistribution of human health resources in Latin America is brought about by the same determinants that cause the underdevelopment of most of that continent. It is indicated that, contrary to the theories of development prevalent in the corridors of power and academic circles of developed countries (as well as in the leading circles of developing countries and in the international agencies), underdevelopment, and the uneven distribution of resources inside and outside the health sector, is not due to (a) the absence of cultural and technologic diffusion from developed to developing countries, (b) the scarcity of capital in poor nations, or (c) the presence of dual economies in underdeveloped countries, i.e. the urban-entrepreneurial economy and the rural primitive economy. To the contrary, underdevelopment and the concomitant maldistribution of resources is caused precisely because of the existence of the assumed “conditions” of development, i.e. (a) the cultural, technologic, and economic dependency of developing countries, and (b) economic and political control of resources by specific interests and social groups—the national lumpen-bourgeoisie and its foreign counterparts. Moreover, these two factors bring about the so-called dual economies in those countries. The uneven distribution, by type of health care, by region, by social class, and by subsectors (private, public, and social security), of human health resources, described in this article, is shown to be explained by the same determinants that cause underdevelopment in Latin America.