Achieving access : professional movements and the politics of health universalism / Joseph Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, Joseph, 1976 August 23- author.

Series:

Culture and politics of health care work.

The culture and politics of health care work

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Health services accessibility--Thailand.

Health services accessibility.

Health services accessibility--Brazil.

Health services accessibility--South Africa.

AIDS (Disease)--Treatment--Government policy--Thailand.

AIDS (Disease).

AIDS (Disease)--Treatment--Government policy--Brazil.

AIDS (Disease)--Treatment--Government policy--South Africa.

Medical policy--Thailand.

Medical policy.

Medical policy--Brazil.

Medical policy--South Africa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (pages cm.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2017.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

At a time when the world's wealthiest nations struggle to make health care and medicine available to everyone, why do resource-constrained countries make costly commitments to universal health coverage and AIDS treatment after transitioning to democracy? Joseph Harris explores the dynamics that made landmark policies possible in Thailand and Brazil but which have led to prolonged struggle and contestation in South Africa. Drawing on firsthand accounts of the people wrestling with these issues, Achieving Access documents efforts to institutionalize universal healthcare and expand access to life-saving medicines in three major industrializing countries. In comparing two separate but related policy areas, Harris finds that democratization empowers elite professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, to advocate for universal health care and treatment for AIDS. Harris's analysis is situated at the intersection of sociology, political science, and public health and will speak to scholars with interests in health policy, comparative politics, social policy, and democracy in the developing world. In light of the growing interest in health insurance generated by implementation of the Affordable Care Act (as well as the coming changes poised to be made to it), Achieving Access will also be useful to policymakers in developing countries and officials working on health policy in the United States.

Contents:

Democratization, elites, and the expansion of access to healthcare and medicine

Thailand : chasing the dream of free medical care for the sick

Brazil : against all odds

South Africa : embracing national health insurance in name only

Thailand : from village safety to universal access

Brazil : constituting rights, setting precedents, challenging norms

South Africa : contesting the luxury of AIDS dissidence.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501709975

1501709976

9781501714832

150171483X

OCLC:

974487837