Local health policies under the microscope: consultants, experts, international missions and poliomyelitis in Spain, 1950-1975.

Rosa Ballester,María José Báguena,María Isabel Porras

doi:10.1590/s0104-59702015000300016

Abstract

One of the main focuses of analysis of this paper concerns the missions of international health agency experts to Spain to report on the situation, the activities in the fight against physical disabilities in children and on the actions taken to cope with the problem. The Spain-23 Plan was the instrument used by WHO and other agencies to start the process of change in a country undergoing a period of transformation under the enduring Franco dictatorship. As key sources, the paper uses unpublished reports of WHO experts on the subject, which resulted from visits to the country between 1950 and 1975. The methodological approach consists of an analysis of discourses from primary sources within the historiographical framework.

Highlights

The focus of historical research on the activities of international health organization consultants and experts is a line of research of great interest, which helps us to improve our understanding of so-called “health globalization”1 and the historical process which created movements and transnational forces that to a great extent define the world of today (Iriye, 2002)
One of the main focuses of analysis of this paper concerns the missions of international health agency experts to Spain to report on the situation, the activities in the fight against physical disabilities in children and on the actions taken to cope with the problem
The Spain-23 Plan was the instrument used by World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies to start the process of change in a country undergoing a period of transformation under the enduring Franco dictatorship

Summary

María José Báguena

BALLESTER, Rosa; PORRAS, María Isabel; BÁGUENA, María José. Local health policies under the microscope: consultants, experts, international missions and poliomyelitis in Spain, 1950-1975. Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, v.22, n.3, jul.-set.

The role of the Expert Committees and Missions in international health

The visits of WHO consultants and experts to Spain

Final considerations