Public health and vulnerable populations: a critical analysis from the perspective of social conflicts

Abstract

In Peru, the relationship between public health, vulnerable populations and social conflicts is inescapable, since this is the result of the political, economic and cultural frameworks that shape the historical inequalities in access to health, mainly of vulnerable populations. Considering the above, the objective of this article was to analyze how social conflicts have a negative impact on the Peruvian health system, having a negative impact on historically marginalized populations. A qualitative methodology was used, with the application of the documentary exploration method. Among the main results, it was highlighted that the segmentation of the health system, the neglect of mental health, the concentration of health services in urban areas and commoditization have made invisible the negative impacts derived from the neglect of vulnerable communities, which has increased poverty, informality and neglect, weakening citizen confidence in democratic institutions. It was concluded that, without a broad, intercultural and decentralized approach, health in Peru will continue to reproduce an instrumental rationality, alien to social justice.