Family and Community Medicine as the core of the Health Systems Equity in Latin America: an exploratory analysis of the region

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to perform a review of equity concept in general and equity in health in particular from the perspective of considering Family and Community Medicine an essential specialty in primary care. This communication resulted from the exchange of the members of the ethics working group at the VI Ibero-American Summit of Family and Community Medicine in San Jose, Costa Rica on April 2016. The methodology consisted of a preliminary survey and the discussion during the summit about the obtained data. All the stages of the work of the working group are presented in this report: an equity new definition, analysis of the equity on health, influential factors, equity through distribution and number of Family and Community doctors in Latin America, governments’ strategies oriented to achieve equity providing healthcare to the entire population, and the acceptance or not of this strategies by family and community doctors. The data obtained from the surveys showed a lack of equity in family and community healthcare facilities due to inadequate number and distribution of qualified human resources, lack of legislation and commitment from governments. It is proposed to work from the concept of equity involving different actors to generate changes oriented to enhance equity in healthcare with family and community medicine as an instrument.