Poverty and Health in Argentina

Abstract

This article examines health conditions in the rural areas of Central Argentina, the country’s main region for soy-bean production and export. Health conditions are analyzed through the concepts of emerging and re-emerging diseases in a context of increasing poverty. Data on poverty and health was obtained from both primary sources (trade union, government officials, rural doctors and the South Watch/FA/FODEPAL/UNR working group) and secondary sources (IPEC/INDEC, IDESA, Consultora Equis, the Argentine Ministry of Employment, ILO, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Environment, toxicology centers and rural doctors). Analysis of rural health conditions gives cause for concern. There is evidence of deterioration in the social determinants of health such as an increase in rural and urban poverty associated with informal employment and child labor. At the same time lack of government epidemiological and toxicological data appears to hide or distort the reality of health conditions.