The Washington Consensus and the Push for Neoliberal Social Policies in Latin America: The Impact of International Organisations on Colombian Healthcare Reform

Abstract

AbstractStarting in 1973, healthcare reforms took place in 20 Latin American countries, as a result of state modernisation and the influence of international organisations. At the same period, the World Bank had become the major healthcare reform advocate in the region, pushing for neoliberal models in line with the Washington Consensus (WC) paradigm. Under these circumstances, Colombia undertook a major change to its system, and existing scholarship suggests that healthcare reform in the country was a product of international influences. This chapter analyses the impact of the principles defined by the WC on the 1993 Colombian healthcare reform. We examine national healthcare legislation to identify how the “neoliberal health model” proposed by the WC translated into the language and measures subsequently adopted in Colombia.