This article examines the structural approach to health cooperation, focusing on its meaning as a method for promoting institutional policies to improve management models. We draw attention to the differences between this approach and the traditional disease-based approach, showing that the structural approach is centered on health systems, reinforces global governance, and embodies the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), thus taking on a multi-sectoral dimension. This approach leverages the maximum potential of international cooperation by establishing structuring networks and promoting relations between partner countries through their national health institutions, schools of public health, and technical staff. By way of example, we show that this approach is applied in the Union of South American Nations (UNASUL, acronym in Portuguese) and Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP, acronym in Portuguese), especially in Africa. Finally, we underline the importance of this approach for South-South relations, where it addresses the real necessities of partner countries, unlike North-South cooperation that is characterized by power asymmetries, especially within the economic and technical-scientific dimensions.
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