Abstract

The way health is conceptualized determines the actions taken to protect andpromote it and, in turn, the actors responsible for such actions in an increasinglyinter-dependent world. This essay presents a brief description of health policiesin Peru during the last ten years in order to analyze the implications of paradigmsof medical ethics, human rights and quality of care. These paradigms offerdistinct ways of formulating, applying and evaluating health policies andunderstanding the relationship among different actors at various levels. Buildingupon other detailed analyses of sexual and reproductive health policy in Peru(Coe, 2004; Miranda and Yamin, 2004), as well as critical appraisals of healthservices models (Gericke, Kurowski, Ranson and Mills, 2005; Krieger,Northridge, Gruskin, Quinn, Kriebel, Davey Smith, Bassett, Rehkopf and Miller,2003), this article advocates the importance of construing and promoting healthas a human right.