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The Politics of Public Health: Smallpox in Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2003

WILLIAM F. SATER
WILLIAM F. SATER
Affiliation:
California State University, Long Beach.
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Abstract

Beset by a variety of diseases, numerous public health measures were advocated in late-nineteenth century Chile. Among these was the call for mandatory vaccination. Although the state supported programmes to encourage vaccination, these were voluntary. In the early 1880s, however, some legislators argued that compulsory vaccination would substantially reduce the death rate. Surprisingly, the legislature rejected this proposal. Claiming that the vaccination legislation would enhance the power of the executive branch, the congressmen soundly rejected an apolitical proposal designed to improve public health.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , August 2003 , pp. 513 - 543
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank Dr René Rojas Stolze, of Santiago de Chile, who provided needed medical advice as well as material on this topic, and to Professor Jaime Rodríguez for reading this article.