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33 Hastings Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 431 (2010)
Judicial Protection of the Right to Health in Colombia: From Social Demands to Individual Claims to Public Debates

handle is hein.journals/hasint33 and id is 443 raw text is: Judicial Protection of the Right to Health in Colombia: From Social Demands to Individual Claims to Public Debates By ALICIA ELY YAMIN* AND OSCAR PARRA-VERA** I. Introduction Even in a region characterized by a number of countries with robust constitutions and judicial enforcement of social rights, Colombia stands out as a striking example of judicial activism regarding health rights. Better known outside the region for its brutal fifty-year-old civil conflict, it seems startling if not paradoxical that the Colombian Constitutional Court (the Court) has developed some of the most progressive jurisprudence in the world with respect to economic, social and cultural rights. The Colombian context indeed presents many contrasts: a long tradition of creating democratic institutions coexists with authoritarianism and alarming levels of political and social violence, and entrenched poverty persists despite years of strong economic growth.' The extreme social inequality in Colombia is reflected in its health statistics, where national averages mask deep disparities that run along urban * Joseph H. Flom Fellow on Global Health and Human Rights, Harvard Law School; Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health; and Senior Researcher, Christian Michelsen Institute (Norway). ** Senior Staff Attorney, Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Researcher, Group of Research in Contemporary Political Theory, National University of Colombia. 1. Francisco Gutikrrez Sanin and Gonzalo Sinchez G6mez, Prologue to Instituto de Estudios Politicos y Relaciones Internacionales, NUESTRA GUERRA SIN NOMBRE: TRANSFORMACIONES DEL CONFLICTO EN COLOMBIA 11, 11-32 (Maria Emma Wills 0. ed., 2009); see also Eduardo Sinchez and Andrs Vargas, Reporte Macroecon6mico No. 20: Bolsas emergentes: lUna nueva burbuja? y Crecimiento econ6mico y desigualdad: la situaci6n colombiana, BOLETIN MENSUAL DEL OBSERVATORIO ECONOMIcO, FINANCIERO Y EMPRESARIAL (2009).

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