The meanings of control and eradication of malaria in the Andes
Cueto, M.
Parassitologia 40(1-2): 177-182
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0048-2951 PMID: 9653744 Document Number: 492335
For centuries Peruvians distinguished malaria from other conditions with different names in Spanish and in the native languages because it was a frequent occurrence in the coast and in the jungle located in the west and east of the Andean highlands. Frequency in different local contexts generated different meanings of malaria that appear more clearly when studying the campaigns of control and eradication of the 20th century. These meanings played an important role in the divisions and tensions that cross race, national integrity, and regional identity in this Andean country. This work deals with the medical and social dimensions of malaria's control and eradication efforts and the ways in which they codified geographical and racial distinctions within Peru. Because malaria does not develop in the highlands, Andean migrants to the coast and the jungle regions are particularly susceptible. Some doctors associated the disease with Andean people, even contending that it was an indication of "Indians" weakness. Finally, this article analyses the spread and containment of malaria in light of the world eradication campaign initiated in the late 1950s and with regard to mass migration, urbanization, and other 20th-century phenomena.