The Health Authority in Chile: Its role as regulator and overseer. Elements for a critical analysis

Abstract

The Process of Health Sector Reform in Chile, which is currently being implemented, is mainly based in the need for consolidating political functions of control in the figure of the “Health Authority”. From an interdisciplinary point of view, and framed by medical anthropology, this paper proposes a critical reflection on the eventual concentration of power in the figure of “Health Authority” which is featured by political, rather than technical decisions. This paper reflects on the consequences of this concentration of power, in particular its possible effects on political manipulation by those acting as Health Authorities because of the media visibility of that role. At the same time, this paper reflects on the need for distributing power within society as a solution for the concentration of political power in the State Health System.