On the structural constraints to state intervention in health.

This paper explores the general structural constraints which are imposed upon all states in capitalist societies in their problem-solving endeavor relative to health. The general argument is that capitalist industrial growth both creates specific health needs and institutionalizes solutions to these needs that are compatible with capital accumulation. The key mechanism in this institutionalization is the engineering model of modern scientific medicine, which transforms health needs into commodities for a specific economic market. When the state intervenes to cope with some health-related problems, it is bound to act so as to further commodify health needs, and without ameliorating the health status of the population.