Whither equity in health? The state of the poor in Latin America.

As Latin American nation states define their public health agendas, the notion of public responsibility for health has slowly dissipated, and inclinations towards neoliberalism have led to an increasing privatization of health care. When it comes to the privatization of health, Haiti has many similarities to other parts of Latin America, from the Guatemalan highlands to the urban slums of Lima. Even in Chile, where health indicators rank amongst the best in Latin America, there is a growing equity gap in health outcomes. Although in health care the application of market forces cannot yield optimal results, health professionals have to increasingly work within the paradigm of market forces and defensively prove that their interventions are effective and inexpensive. Unless the poor are accorded some right to health care, water, food, and education, their lives will inevitably be short, desperate and unfree; these are not indicators by which we will