POLICIES AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH RESEARCH COLLABORATION

THE CASE OF THE OSWALDO CRUZ FOUNDATION (2009-2016)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the international scientific collaboration of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) during the administration of Paulo Gadelha (2009-2016). As a theoretical and methodological framework, it employs González de Gómez’s concept of the information regime as an interpretive model and combines literature review, document analysis, and social network analysis applied to the co-authorship of scientific articles published during the period. The study aims to understand the patterns of the collaboration network and the positions occupied by the main countries collaborating with Fiocruz. The findings indicate that the Brazilian federal government promoted policies aimed at fostering collaboration and cooperation with Global South countries and that Fiocruz’s institutional policies were aligned with Brazil’s foreign policy during that period. In this context, the institution defined the expansion of international cooperation as one of its strategic priorities, particularly with countries in South America and Africa. Despite the growth of collaborations with countries from these and other regions of the Global South, the main countries in the collaboration network remained the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The study also identified the strengthening of triangular cooperation arrangements, in which Global South countries established partnerships mediated by high-income countries.