Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America

The most important objective of transformative constitutionalism is to transform society by fostering democracy, protecting human rights, and seeking to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. From this perspective, courts always guarantee this transformation through judicial...

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Main Author: Rodolfo Gutiérrez Silva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2024-02-01
Series:Revista de Direito Sanitário
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.usp.br/rdisan/article/view/202983
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author Rodolfo Gutiérrez Silva
author_facet Rodolfo Gutiérrez Silva
author_sort Rodolfo Gutiérrez Silva
collection DOAJ
description The most important objective of transformative constitutionalism is to transform society by fostering democracy, protecting human rights, and seeking to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. From this perspective, courts always guarantee this transformation through judicial activism. In order to achieve this objective, courts in the Latin American region are expanding their involvement in the health sector in particular. The objective of this article was to analyse the consequences of transformative constitutionalism in the health sector in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. The methodology applied was descriptive. Comparative, qualitative and literature review and 37 semi-structured interviews with judges, academics and public servants were carried out. Despite the progress made, the transformation achieved by the intervention of courts in the protection of the right to health has been only moderate. Transformative constitutionalism is generating internal and external transformations in the health sector of Latin America including direct material, symbolic and indirect transformations; however, there are still concerns about the negative consequences of transformative constitutionalism. Therefore, the promises of transformative constitutionalism remain very far to reach. In conclusion, courts should consider more the structural causes that are affecting health systems and strive more towards equilibrium.
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spelling doaj-art-5f85a8f695634bea8cc251f62de73d0b2025-08-20T02:26:27ZengUniversidade de São PauloRevista de Direito Sanitário1516-41792316-90442024-02-0124110.11606/issn.2316-9044.rdisan.2024.202983Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin AmericaRodolfo Gutiérrez Silva0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9248-3374Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. Faculty of Law. ColombiaThe most important objective of transformative constitutionalism is to transform society by fostering democracy, protecting human rights, and seeking to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. From this perspective, courts always guarantee this transformation through judicial activism. In order to achieve this objective, courts in the Latin American region are expanding their involvement in the health sector in particular. The objective of this article was to analyse the consequences of transformative constitutionalism in the health sector in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. The methodology applied was descriptive. Comparative, qualitative and literature review and 37 semi-structured interviews with judges, academics and public servants were carried out. Despite the progress made, the transformation achieved by the intervention of courts in the protection of the right to health has been only moderate. Transformative constitutionalism is generating internal and external transformations in the health sector of Latin America including direct material, symbolic and indirect transformations; however, there are still concerns about the negative consequences of transformative constitutionalism. Therefore, the promises of transformative constitutionalism remain very far to reach. In conclusion, courts should consider more the structural causes that are affecting health systems and strive more towards equilibrium.https://revistas.usp.br/rdisan/article/view/202983courtslatin americaright to healthtransformative constitutionalism
spellingShingle Rodolfo Gutiérrez Silva
Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America
Revista de Direito Sanitário
courts
latin america
right to health
transformative constitutionalism
title Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America
title_full Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America
title_fullStr Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America
title_full_unstemmed Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America
title_short Transformative Constitutionalism and the Right to Health in Latin America
title_sort transformative constitutionalism and the right to health in latin america
topic courts
latin america
right to health
transformative constitutionalism
url https://revistas.usp.br/rdisan/article/view/202983
work_keys_str_mv AT rodolfogutierrezsilva transformativeconstitutionalismandtherighttohealthinlatinamerica