Esbozo histórico de la medicina estatal en América Central

Este trabajo esboza los rasgos básicos de la medicina estatal y de la salud pública en América Central, con énfasis en el siglo XX. El panorama es variado, dadas las distintas configuraciones de los regímenes políticos, divisiones étnicas y conflictos sociales; algunos de los cuales fueron sumamente extremos. A partir de este análisis se nota un alto grado de continuidad histórica en la manera en que estos factores han influenciado la formación y deformación de sistemas de salud pública y medicina estatal. A pesar de la fuerte presencia de agentes externos en el sector salud de los países centroamericanos, el trabajo sostiene que las fuerzas históricas determinan la naturaleza de los sistemas de medicina estatal en el istmo, y que las mayores influencias son de carácter interno y no externo. Aún cuando el desarrollo de la medicina estatal en la mayoría de los países de la región ha sido débil, la cuestión del acceso público a los servicios médicos ha jugado un papel importante, y a veces explosivo, en sus desarrollos políticos

Toward Responsibility in International Health: Death following Treatment in Rockefeller Hookworm Campaigns, 1914–1934

Late in October 1926, a poor man from Bucamaranga, Colombia, wrote a letter to the richest man in the world. Juan de la Rosa Quintero Parra informed John D Rockefeller that his ten-year-old son, José Vicente, had “died suddenly as a result of a purge administered by the Bureau of Uncinariasis”, the local incarnation of the Rockefeller Foundation's global project to eradicate hookworm disease. The death of the boy, who worked full-time as a streetsweeper for the municipality, had been “a serious blow since he was the only one who contributed to the support of the family consisting of seven young children”. Having heard of Mr Rockefeller's generosity, Quintero appealed to him for assistance, thanked him in advance for the attention he would give to the matter, and hoped that Divine Providence would spare the great philanthropist's life for many years to come. He mailed the letter to Rockefeller Foundation headquarters at 61 Broadway in New York City, the same address where, probably unbeknownst to him, bits of his son's organs had been sent following a post-mortem. Quintero Parra's letter came to the attention of either the 84-year-old patriarch or his son, John D Rockefeller, Jr, the Foundation's president. Their executive secretary, F M Read was instructed to make inquiries into the death of the child, José Vicente Quintero.</jats:p