Malaria and the Emergence of Rural Health in Argentina: An Analysis from the Perspective of International Interaction and Co-operation

Abstract

At the end of the 19th century, after having long neglected sanitary conditions in rural areas, Argentinean public health authorities began to recognize the need to combat malaria in the country's northern provinces. The disease was proliferating among workers in the sugarcane and cotton industries, jeopardizing national and international economic interests. The crusade against malaria involved co-operation of the Argentinean, Brazilian, European, and US scientists, whose concerted efforts led to identification of the local characteristics of the disease and its mosquito vector. Argentina's antimalaria campaigns also derived from international interactions, but 19th-century European models proved hard to supplant. This study illustrates how malaria was established as an issue of public concern in Argentina in the early 20th century, highlighting the disease's socioeconomic dimensions and exploring the role of international sanitary co-operation in paving the way for the establishment of a rural hygiene discourse.