Mates or foes? Economic growth and population health in contemporary Central America
Abstract
This short communication poses some views about the provocative question “Does economic growth result in better population health?” which then leads us to reflect as public health practitioners in current times. Therefore, from this point of view, I will share some thoughts on the subject, especially bringing the case of Central American countries into this field. At first glance, this question seems easy to answer, yet several aspects must be investigated in as much detail as possible to draft a reasonable answer.
References
Brockett CD. Land, power, and poverty: agrarian transformation and political conflict in Central America. Routledge, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429034060
Ulku H, Zaourak G. Unleashing Central America’s growth potential: Synthesis report (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2021. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/782621618992892153/Synthesis-Report
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC. Social panorama of Latin America in 2021. Social Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 2022. https://repositorio.cepal.org/handle/11362/47719
Puig SM, Sánchez-Ancochea D. La transformación contradictoria: democracia etilista y mercado excluyente en Centroamérica. Anuario de Estudios Centroamericanos, 2014;40(1):149-171. https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/anuario/article/view/16634
Pan American Health Organization, Regional Office for the Americas. Universal Health: An indispensable investment for sustainable human development. Washington, D.C.: World Health Organization, 2015. https://www.paho.org/en/documents/agenda-regional-forum-universal-health-indispensable-investment-sustainable-human
Pedraza CC, Matus-López M, Báscolo E. Fiscal space for health in the Americas: is economic growth sufficient? Rev Panam Salud Publica, 2019;43(1):1-7. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2019.321
Harvey M, Piñones-Rivera C, Holmes SM. Thinking with and against the social determinants of health: The Latin American social medicine (collective health) critique from Jaime Breilh. Int J Health Serv, 2022;52(4):433-441. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207314221122657
Manzano O, et al. El futuro de Centroamérica: Retos para un Desarrollo sostenible. Inter-American Development Bank, 2019.
Delgado BMG, Silva AP, Rodriguez JM. Concept map on health and intellectual property in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Rev Panam Salud Publica, 2019;43(1):1-9.
Borde E, Hernández M. Revisiting the social determinants of health agenda from the global south. Social Inequities and Contemporary Struggles for Collective Health in Latin America. Routledge, 2020. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003022787
Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana – SICA). Regional Health Policy 2015-2022. San Salvador: El Salvador, 2015. https://www.sica.int/consulta/noticia.aspx?idn=92912&idm=1
Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana – SICA). Regional Social Policy of SICA 2020-2040. San Salvador: El Salvador, 2023. https://eurosocial.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Politica-Social-Integral-Regional-del-SICA-2020-2040.pdf
Lange S, Vollmer S. The effect of economic development on population health: A review of empirical evidence. British Medical Bulletin, 2017;121(1):47-60. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldw052
Pedraza CC. Financing of integrated health service networks. Rev Panam Salud Publica, 2020;44(1):1-7. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2020.121
