LSE Health presents "Milei's Chainsaw to Argentina's Public Health: A Libertarian Gamble testing the limits of Austerity in Health" as part of our 30th anniversary celebration.

Register to join the webinar on Zoom.

Argentina's health system is undergoing significant transformation under President Javier Milei's administration, as comprehensive libertarian reforms reshape the country's approach to public health policy. In this lecture, Prof. Adolfo Rubinstein, Argentina's former Health Minister, will provide an insider's perspective on these sweeping changes, which include substantial budget reductions, increased decentralisation, and a commitment to market-oriented solutions that represent a fundamental shift from previous policy directions. Drawing on his extensive experience in health policy implementation and his unique vantage point as someone who has led Argentina's health system, Prof. Rubinstein will examine how these reforms have restructured federal oversight, modified access to services, and led to Argentina's withdrawal from the WHO. His analysis will explore the departure from equity and universality principles that have traditionally characterised the country's health system, offering critical insights into the outcomes and implications of applying libertarian economic principles to public health governance.

Meet our speaker and chair

Prof. Adolfo Rubinstein MD MSc DrPH served as Argentina's National Minister of Health from 2017-2019, where he led the expansion of the Universal Health Strategy and oversaw prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. He is currently Director of the Center for Implementation and Innovation in Health Policies (CIIPS) at the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS), which he founded and directed from 2002-2017. Prof. Rubinstein graduated "magna cum laude" from the University of Buenos Aires, received his MSc in Clinical Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health, and his DrPH from UBA. He is a Full Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at UBA, a Visiting Professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and has served as a WHO Commissioner. He has published over 160 papers in global health policy, health reform, and clinical epidemiology, and is a Principal Investigator of Argentina's National Council of Scientific Research.

Chair: Professor Elias Mossialos is Cheng Yu Tung Chair in Global Health and Director of LSE Health. He was the founding Head of the Department of Health Policy. His primary research focus revolves around health systems and policy, with a particular emphasis on issues related to healthcare financing, accessibility, quality, regulation, pharmaceutical policies, AMR, and cancer care and policy. He has developed the Options Market for Antibiotics, an incentive scheme to stimulate research and development (R&D).

Register to join the webinar on Zoom.