Abstract

MACAYA-AGUIRRE, Gustavo. Towards an analysis of primary health care in Chile as a biopower device. Civilizar [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.40, pp.11-22.  Epub Apr 16, 2022. ISSN 1657-8953.  https://doi.org/10.22518/jour.ccsh/2021.1a01.

Primary Health Care (PHC) in Chile is a central part of the public health strategy of the Chilean State for the care of its population. Within PHC there are multiple indicators to measure health actions, such as the Health Goals (HGs) and the Primary Health Care Activity Index (PHCAI). Hence, this article seeks to reflect, from a Foucauldian perspective, and based on an analysis of HGs and PHCAI, on the possibility of thinking of PHC as a biopower device within Chilean public health. For this purpose, this work will be divided into three main sections. First, the essential elements that make part of HGs and PHCAI will be examined. Then, the concepts of biopower and device, which are present in Foucauldian thought, will be developed. Finally, an analysis of HGs and PHCAI will be carried out, starting from the comprehensive key concepts addressed in the previous section. As a concluding remark, the analysis leads to maintain that HGs and PHCAI are central biopower strategies present within what I have called “primary care device,” whose objective is, on the one hand, to intervene the bodies and, on the other, to separate and prioritize certain population groups and displace others.

Keywords : Primary Health Care (PHC); biopower; device; Primary Health Care Activity Index (PHCAI); Health Goals (HGs)..

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )