Judicialization of access to medicines in the South American contexto

Abstract

South American governments recognize access to medicines as part of the right of their populations to health and welfare. Both, life and health understood as social rights imply efforts of the health systems to guarantee the best conditions in an equitable and collective way, without restrictions to access, and maintaining their sustainability. The so-called “judicialization of access to medicines” has become an alternative path to the mechanisms established by the health systems in the region, generating concerns related to the contradiction between the efforts of health systems and judicial determinations. This article presents a systematic review on the subject in the region, based on Scopus, PubMed and Lilacs databases. Many of the cases reported describe individual claims that have not generated collective routes, whose sentences could involve more numerous groups of people; generate jurisprudence for similar approaches, and impact on the design and implementation of public policies. Under the principle of universality, the judicialization of medicines is a useful strategy insofar as it maintains the balance between the guarantees of the right to health, collective welfare and the best disposition of the health resources. From a legal perspective, there is still an unresolved concern regarding the role of the various entities that are available to countries to guarantee fundamental rights and its articulation with other bodies such as courts and administrative authorities.