Controversial aspects of the concept of health needs and their impact on the accessibility of medicine and health services

Abstract

This article aimed to present the problems related to accessibility of health services by re-reading four case studies which illustrate the different dimensions of the definition of health needs and their impact on the accessibility of medicine and health services. The theoretical model of Vargas-Peláez et al.1, which allows a better understanding of the complexity of the definition of health needs and its impact on the demand for medicines and services, was adopted to re-read the case studies on the prices of patented medicines, the models of public provision, hemodynamic services, and prescription of anxiolytics. The results may shed some light on the complexity of the challenges to achieve health rights in a peripheral capitalist society where the production and distribution of goods and services is organized from the perspective of the market, even though public policies seek to regulate them. In this sense, it seems essential that the State plays a major role in guaranteeing equality in the achievement of social rights, not only influencing the industrial sector in reducing the prices of medicines and improving their supply, but also guaranteeing access to medicine and health services.