Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

64 • Assessing the effects of economic globalization in Latin America and its impact on equitable access to health and well-being for the region’s populations. • The urgent need to deepen South-South cooperation from and within Latin America. • The critical analysis of external aid programs (charity vs. rights). • Patients vs. patents, ensuring the protection of intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies and their impact on access to medicines. • Protecting health as a right versus health as a commodity. • Critically analyzing the adherence to and implementation by our governments of international agreements for the health and well-being of the people. Concerning adherence to international treaties, a recent editorial in the journal Science, when evaluating the power dynamics among nations in the context of securing Covid-19 vaccines and therapies, offers a critical analysis of international cooperation in Global Health (Fidler, 2020). Similarly, an article in Foreign Affairs Latin America asserts that the Covid- 19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of a fragmented Latin America, operating under the principle of “every man for himself”, which results in human lives paying the ultimate cost (Fortin & Heine, 2020). When augmenting these noteworthy observations with the apparent frailty of nearly all inter-American integration and cooperation institutions, the inevitable conclusion arises that those alliances, including ALASAG, must solidify over time and geography as a contribution to enhanced health cooperation among regional countries. This is intricately linked to the ongoing struggle against inequalities and the cultivation of a robust public voice. In this context and with a forward-looking perspective, our institutions must refine their academic pursuits in human resources training. This involves updating academic work, promoting relevant research and fostering deepened transdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration at both national and regional level (Solimano et al., 2013). Achieving this requires supporting local and national initiatives, primarily by formulating competitive projects to access national and international funding. Additionally, active participation in forums, congresses and other events, coupled with the publication of scientific articles in indexed journals of mainstream currents, becomes imperative for sustained influence and contribution.