The conception of the right of health in contemporary society: articulating the political and the social

Abstract

This article is a reflection about health care rights in contemporary society showing that a change is happening in relation to universality of rights. It was produced from research that resulted in Nogueira’s Ph.D. Dissertation that was concluded in 2002. It brings to the surface the different theoretical visions about social rights articulating them in reference to two paradigms: one is a complete citizenship, with a universal view about health care rights; and the other is a limited social citizenship, where the view about health care rights is oriented by economic efficiency. This vision defends the focusing of resources to attenuate the condition of misery and puts the market in the center of the regulation of the health care sector.
Key words: Health care rights. Social rights. Citizenship.