ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America has revealed and deepened immediate health challenges in states with fragile health systems, as well as medium- and long-term challenges related to the fight against poverty and socioeconomic and gender inequalities. COVID-19 joined existing epidemics, such as Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, and Malaria, in the region. This sobering reality presents an era-defining challenge to regional governance. Yet, this health crisis unfolds in a region that shows a clear incongruity between the increase in regional and border problems, and the decrease in concerted responses. This situation demonstrates that if regional governance is to have a place in the response to COVID-19 and social reconstruction, it will have to address three limiting factors: (1) the prevalence of self-interested politics, (2) the preponderance of an approach to health that looks at containment, and (3) a lack of sense of shared responsibility. Therefore, we ask: What are the capacities needed to unlock these challenges that affect regional responses to health crises? To answer this question, the chapter explores how regional governance unfolded in the past decade and which lessons could be drawn to respond to current challenges of health governance in Latin America.
