COVID-19 pandemic and the regional health agenda in Latin America: chronicle of a missed opportunity

Resumen

This article analyses policy regional responses to COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and identifies the current limitations to cooperation efforts within regional integration mechanisms in the health sector, especially considering the access to vaccines and health technologies. A qualitative methodology was followed based on secondary data and document analysis. As a result, we found that the policy responses to COVID-19 have lacked a regional approach in Latin America. The worldwide crisis of multilateralism, the political distancing between countries and their resulting unilateral response were associated with a lack of coordinated actions and the undermining of a concerted strategy. Despite the different regional mechanisms and initiatives to deal with the pandemic, the results – being fragmented – have not been enough to elaborate effective responses to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a missed opportunity for global health to articulate agendas and for Latin America to rebuild its fragmented and weak regional cooperation.