Universal social protection systems as an alternative to Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

Abstract

The international financial organizations and United Nations have promoted the strategy of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as the best way to guarantee access to health care services. This article discusses this proposal from the point of view of its effectiveness for the guarantee of the right to health as well as its functionality for the accumulation of capital in the so-called 'financial and industrial medical complex' of health, within the framework of financialization and cognitive capitalism. The Colombian case, an example of the application of the CUS in more than twenty years, highlights the limits of the proposal. As an alternative, the option of universal social protection systems is presented, supported by an open public debate and local and global social mobilization for the defense of life, not only human, and not reduced to access to health care services.