Second Nature--Health and Social Policy in Mexico and Latin America

Health and Social Policy in Mexico and Latin America

University of California at Berkeley - School of Public Health
Berkeley, California
Instructor(s): Guendelman, Sylvia
Subject area: Health / Medicine
Department: Public Health
Course number: PH212C
Year taught: 1997

Please note that the copyright for this syllabus is retained by the instructor.

School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

PH 212C: Health and Social Policy in Mexico and Latin America (2-3 units)
CC #75176 for lecture only (2 units);
CC #75176 & 75179 for lecture and discussion section (3 units)

SPRING 1997

Instructor: Professor Sylvia Guendelman 642-2848

Place: 2301 Tolman Hall; 2319 Tolman Hall

Time: Mondays, 2-4 pm; Discussion 4-5 pm
Phone: 642-2848
e-mail: sylvia@uclink2.berkeley.edu

California was once politically a part of Latin America. Culturally, in many ways it has always retained some connection to Latin America. And now, increasingly, California is becoming demographically linked to Mexico and Latin America. Immigration from this region is currently contributing to the population growth of the state. Given that nearly half of the Latino population was born in Mexico and Latin America, the social policy needs that they present are, in many ways, the consequences of policies and services in their countries of origin.

Health in particular knows no borders: individuals with health care needs flow back and forth across political borders, as do illnesses. An understanding of the health and welfare needs of the Latino population living in this state must include an understanding of the health and welfare issues in Mexico and Latin America.

Economically, the Southwest is also becoming increasingly linked to Mexico and Latin America as more U.S. corporations set their operations south of the border.

These issues must be understood as products of the process of development and modernization peculiar to Latin America. In this course, we begin by examining core health policy perspectives implemented in Latin America during its course of development, explore prevailing and emerging health and social issues and discuss some public health responses to health problems. We subsequently focus on current issues along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Format:

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY THEMATIC TREATMENT WILL BB USED TO LOOK AT VARIOUS ASPECTS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELL BEING.

SEPARATE DISCUSSION SESSIONS WILL ALLOW FOR ANALYSIS OF READINGS AND VIDEO MATERIALS.

A 2-DAY VISIT TO TIJUANA WILL BB ORGANIZED TO HAVE A FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE WITH THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS ON THE BORDER.

COURSE OUTLINE

Session Date Topic Presenter

1 Jan 27 Introduction: Latin American Health Policies in Historical Perspective S. Guendelman

2 Feb 3 Latin American Health Policies in Historical Perspective S. Guendelman

3 Feb 10 Emerging and Persistent Health Issues S. Guendelman

Feb 17 P R E S I D E N T ' S H O L I D A Y

4 Feb 24 Women in Health and the Health of Women S. Guendelman

5 March 3 Healthy Cities L. Duhl

6 March 10 Measuring the Impact of New Health Projects on Development: Implications PAHO for Financial Aid and Technical Assistance H. Rosenberg

7 March 17 Class Discussion: Letters to the Editor S. Guendelman

March 24 S P R I N G B R E A K

8 March 31 Community Empowerment Videos S. Guendelman

9 April 7 Field Trip to Tijuana S. Guendelman

10 April 14 Health Conditions in Mexico and Along the Border S. Guendelman

11 April 21 The Health Professions, Human Rights and Civil Conflict in Mexico and Central America UCB E. Stover

12 April 28 Sustainable Development and Modernity M. Altieri

13 May 5 Immigration Policies in the US: Its Impact on Latino Populations Castellanos, Andres Jimenez, Kathy Demors, Hans Johnson, Panel-Carmela

14 May 12 Student Presentations

Objectives of this course are:

1. To examine some current health and social problems in Latin America in the context of its development process.

2. To explore strategies for solving health and social problems at the public, private and grassroots levels.

3. To provide a forum for exploring topics of individual concern through the development of a term paper and a letter to the editor.

4. To examine border, issues and immigration issues as they impact the U.S. and Mexico.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Requirements Date Due % of Grade

1. Letter to the editor 3/10 20
2. Paper Outline 3/31 10
3. Final Paper 5/12 50
4. Class Participation 20

1. The letter to the editor consists of a 1-2 page brief which forcefully conveys your point of view about a certain issue. Select and critique one to three articles of your interest and use them as the basis of your letter. Please provide a copy of the articles.

2. The paper outline is a 1-2 page written description of the final paper. This outline should contain the following: 1) a proposed title; b) brief formulation of the issue(s) to be studied; c) the objectives of your paper; d) the methodological approach that will be used to examine the topic and e) the data sources that will be used.

3. The final paper should include a clear formulation of the issue being studied; a statement of its relevance to public health; a description of the method used to study the issue and an analytical discussion of the major findings, impact or controversies surrounding this issue and the conclusions that you draw from this analysis. The final assignment should be between 10 and 20 pages long.

4. Class participation is strongly encouraged at all times.

Course reader is for sale at Copy Central, 48 Shattuck Square, West Campus

READINGS

SESSIONS 1 & 2: "LATIN AMERICAN HEALTH POLICIES IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE"
1/27, 2/3

Marquez, P.V., Joly, D.J. "A historical overview of the ministries of public health and the medical programs of the social security systems in Latin America". Journal of Public Health Policy, 1986, 7(3): 378-394.

Mesa-Lago, C. "Overall evaluation of health care and access of the poor". In: Health Care for the Poor in Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington: PAHO/IAF, 1992, pp. 15-36.

"Overview", Investing in Health, World Development Indicators, World Development Report (1993), New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 1-16.

"Social response to health problems". In: Health Conditions in the Americas 1994. Washington: PAHO, pp. 303-308.

SESSION 3: "EMERGING AND PERSISTENT HEALTH ISSUES"
2/10
Mosley, W.H., Jamison, D.A., Henderson, D.A. "The health sector in developing countries: Problems for the l990s and beyond," Annu Rev Public Health, 1990, 11:335-58.

Frenk, J., Bobadilla, J.L., Sepulveda, J., Lopez Cervantes, M. "Health transition in middle-income countries: New challenges for health care," Health Policy and Planning,1989, 4(1):29-39.

Laurell, A.C. "Social analysis of collective health in Latin America," Soc Sci Med. 1989, 28(11):1183-1191.

Curto de Casas, S.I. "Geographical inequalities in mortality in Latin America," Soc Sci Med. 1989, 36(10):1349-1355.

SESSION 3: "EMERGING AND PERSISTENT HEALTH ISSUES" (cont'd) 2/10
Restrepo, H.E., Rozental, M. "The social impact of aging populations: Some major issues," Soc Sci Med. 1994, 39(9):1323-1338.

SESSION 4: "WOMEN IN HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF WOMEN'
2/24
Puentes-Markides, C. "Women and access to health care". Soc Sci Med. 1992, 35(4):619-626.

Browner, C.H. "Women, household and health in Latin America". Soc Sci Med. 1989, 28(5):461-473.

Herz, B. "Population growth, sustainable development, and the role of women". Opening Address IUSSP Conference on Women's Position and Demographic Change in the Course of Development. Asker, Norway, June 1988,

Berglund, S., et al. "The background of unwanted adolescent pregnancies in Nicaragua. A pilot study". Draft. 1994, 153-181.

Giffin, K. "Women's health and the privatization of fertility control in Brazil," Soc Sci Med. 1994, 39(3):355-360.

SESSION 5: "HEALTHY CITIES"
3/3
Duhl, L. "Consortium to create healthy municipalities draft proposal," 16 pages.

"Healthy Municipios in Latin America," Abstracts and Reports, Bulletin of PAHO, 1995, 29(3):272-276.

SESSION 6: "MEASURING TAB IMPACT OF NEW HEALTH PROJECTS ON DEVELOPMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL AID AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE"
3/10

Zaidi, S.A. "Planning in the health sector: For whom, by whom". Social Science and Medicine, 1994, 39(9):1385 1393.

"Financing health services in developing countries: An agenda for reform," PAHO Bulletin, 22(4), 1988, 416-429

Horwitz, A. "Economics and health beyond financing," PAHO Bulletin, 22(4), 1988, 430-439.

Frenk, J. "Financing as an instrument of public policy," PAHO Bulletin, 22(4), 1988, 440-446.

Bossert, T.J. "Can they get along without us? Sustainability of donor-supported health projects in Central America and Africa". Social Science and Medicine, 1990, 30(9):1015-1023.

Dietrich, P. "Who's to blame: Fixing world health aid". The Wall Street Journal, 1990, one page.

SESSION 6: "MEASURING THE IMPACT OF NEW HEALTH PROJECTS ON DEVELOPMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL AID AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE" (cont'd)
3/10

"Health and the Economy: Proposals for progress in the Mexican Health System, Overview, Fundacion Mexicana para la Salud, 1995.

SESSION 7: "DISCUSSION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
3/17
No readings

3/24 S P R I N G B R E A K

SESSION 8: "COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT"
3/31

"Chapter 1, Reflections: what is participation?", In: The World Bank Participation Sourcebook. World Bank, Washington, DC, 1996, 3-8.

Brazil: Municipalities and low-income sanitation, In: The World Bank Participation Sourcebook. World Bank, Washington, DC, 1996, 29-33.

Woelk, G.B. "Cultural and structural influences in the creation of and participation in community health programmed," Soc Sci Med. 1992, 34(4):419-424.

Donahue, J.M., McGuire, M.B. "The political economy of responsibility in health and illness," Soc Sci Med. 1995, 40(1):47-53.

Stebbins, K.R. "Curative medicine, preventive medicine and health status: The influence of politics on health status in a rural Mexican village," Soc Sci Med. 1986, 23(2):139-148.

Laurell, A.C., Wences, M.I. "Do poverty programs alleviate poverty?" The case of the Mexican National Solidarity Program, Intn'l Jrnl of Health Services, 1994, 24(3):381-401.

SESSION 9: "FIELD TRIP"
4/7
No readings

SESSION 10: "HEALTH CONDITIONS IN MEXICO AND ALONG THE BORDER"
4/14

La Frontera/The Border: An Enigma for Two Nations. Center for International Journalism. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1993.

Planting the Seeds: Binational Efforts to Improve Maternal and Child Health Care in the United States-Mexico Border Area, PAHO, 1993.

Guendelman, S., Jasis Silberg, M. "The health consequences of maquiladora work: Women on the US-Mexican border," American Journal of Public Health, 1993, 83(1):37-44.

SESSION 11: "THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL CONFLICT IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA"
4/21

Readings to be distributed in class or put on reserve

SESSION 12: "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND MODERNITY"
4/28

Altieri, M.A., Yurjevic, A. and Latin American Consortium - on Agroecology. Paper: Towards an agroecological strategy for sustainable rural development in Latin America, March 1990, 22 pages.

Sharachchandra, M. "Sustainable development: A critical review". World Development, 1991, 19(6):607-621.

Navarro, Z. "Family-based farmers and mercosur: The "other" integration process," Grassroots Development, 1996, 20(2):34-43.

Development Notes- Growing networks for sustainable agriculture in Central America. Grassroots Development, 1996, 20(2):48-49.

SESSION 13: "IMMIGRATION POLICIES IN THE US: ITS IMPACT ON LATINO POPULATIONS"
5/5

Dillenberg, J., Krenitz, M. Health care for undocumented immigrants: A discussion paper. Washington: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, June 1994.

Clark, R.L., et al. Fiscal impacts of undocumented aliens: Selected estimates for seven states. Executive Summary. Washington: The Urban Institute, 1994.

The Federation of American Immigration Reform. Background and Fact Sheets. Washington, D.C., 1994.

Drake, S., Munoz, C. "Immigrants and health care reform", Immigration Newsletter, 1994, 21(4), 10-14.

Fineman, M. "Mexico has its own illegal immigrants." San Francisco Chronicle, December 1994, one page.

Landale, N.S., Oropesa, R.S. Immigrant children and the children of immigrants: Inter- and intra-ethnic group differences in the United States. Population Research Group Research Paper 95-02, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, Michigan State University, 1995.

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