191053 Social Medicine in Chile / La Medicina Social en Chile

Monday, October 27, 2008: 3:10 PM

Roberto Belmar, MD , Secretario de Ministerio Region Metropolitano, SEREMI, Santiago, Chile
In the 1930s Dr. Salvador Allende's work led to the development of social medicine in Chile and in Latin America. His recognition of the social determinants of illness in his groundbreaking book, The Chilean Medico-Social Reality, and his work as Minister of Health and as a Senator led to the formation of the Chilean National Health Service (NHS). Allende was elected President of Chile in 1970, but his work to strengthen the NHS and social medicine was cut short by his assassination in the U.S.-supported 1973 coup. After the return to democracy in Chile in 1990 the new government has restored the public health orientation of the NHS, with primary health care based on social medicine principles as its cornerstone.

En los años 30 el trabajo del Dr. Salvador Allende condujo al desarrollo de la medicina social en Chile y en Latinoamérica. Su reconocimiento de los determinantes sociales de la enfermedad, su libro innovador. La realidad médico-social chilena y su trabajo como ministro de salud y senador llevó a la formación del Servicio Nacional de Salud (SNS). Fue electo presidente en 1970, pero su esfuerzo para fortalecer al SNS y a la medicina social fue impedido por su asesinato en el golpe de estado en 1973, que fue apoyado por los Estados Unidos. Después del regreso de Chile a la democracia en 1990, el nuevo gobierno ha restaurado la orientación en salud pública del SNS, enfatizando la atención primaria de la salud, basándose en los principios de la medicina social.

Learning Objectives:
List Latin American approaches to issues raised in current public health debates in the United States.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: of my experience in social medicine in Chile.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.