Award Supports Research & Policy Proposals Aimed to Contribute to Human Development in Latin America
New York, NY (October 14, 2004) — Weill Cornell Medical College/Qatar's Dr. Pablo Rodriguez del Pozo is a co-recipient of the 2004 Fulvio Pagani Award in recognition of his paper on the Argentine healthcare system. The annual award is given by the Arcor Foundation to support research and policy proposals that contribute to human development in Latin America.
Dr. del Pozo is Assistant Professor of Public Health, Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College/Qatar. Also receiving the award were co-authors Osvaldo Giordano and Jorge Colina, both economists at the Instituto para el Desarrollo Social Argentino (IDESA), a Buenos Aires think tank.
The winning paper — entitled "The Argentine Healthcare Failure: Diagnosis and Proposals" (El fracaso sanitario argentino: Diagnóstico y propuestas) — finds that the failure of the Argentine healthcare system is due to multiple factors, including government neglect of public-health initiatives, the Byzantine health insurance system, and irrational regulation — that is, over-regulating the market when it works efficiently and failing to regulate the market when it is inefficient or unfair. Due to these systemic problems, the authors conclude that Argentina spends too much money on healthcare for the results it obtains.
The paper — a multidisciplinary effort that weaves together concepts of public health, economics, and ethics — also highlights the deep injustices of the Argentine healthcare system, including its regressive financing and restrictive healthcare coverage for low-income families, who comparatively pay more and receive less than higher-income families.
"As a solution, we propose that the government of Argentina change the regulation of different aspects of the market, with the goal of making the Argentine healthcare system universal, just, and efficient," says Dr. del Pozo. "For example, the government should free workers to choose their health insurance company — they should not be restricted to their profession's union-run health plan. On the flipside, private healthcare providers should be monitored by the government to ensure fairness and financial stability."
The 2004 Fulvio Pagani Award recognizes research and policy papers on applied economics. The award winners each receive a diploma, a medal, and a cash prize of 50,000 Argentine pesos. The award-winning paper will also be published by the Arcor Foundation as a book in November. The prize is named after Fulvio S. Pagani (1928-1990), an Argentine entrepreneur who inherited a family candy factory and transformed it into Arcor, a billion-dollar corporation.
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