CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT FOCUSING ON BRIC COUNTRIES

Abstract

The well-known interpretation of development as an equivalent of economic growth and industrialization is examined in its roots in American international cooperation in the post-war era and correlated with the doctrine of ECLAC about the vicious circle between poverty and disease. It is shown that later targets of international health policies came to highlight problems that affect the whole population, regardless of their level of income. Two contemporary approaches to this question are discussed: Amartya Sen’s notion of health as a human capacity, and innovation in health technologies as a Schumpeterian proposal.  The theoretical assumptions of these two approaches are discussed vis-à-vis contextual data of BRIC countries, so as to evaluate their health problems and development possibilities.