Health Actions Aimed at Bolivian Migrants Residing in Jujuy During the 1990s

Abstract

This article analyzes public health actions aimed at the Bolivian population residing in Jujuy. In particular, it describes those included in the ARBOL II Program, which were oriented toward controlling the cholera outbreaks of the early 1990s. It also addresses statements made by politicians regarding the right of foreigners to receive care in public health services.

The article concludes that the specificity of migratory status does not appear to have grounded targeted health practices. It also shows variations in the discursive construction of migrants and their movements, who were regarded as carriers of sanitary danger. These changes are associated with the decline in the demand for agricultural labor, the reduction of migrant stocks, the urbanization of this population, and the crisis of the Welfare State.

The article concludes that the initially inclusive position, together with the defunding of the public sector and the crisis of the health system in the 1990s, became exclusionary and came to openly question the right of foreigners from neighboring countries to receive free health care.