 Curative medicine, preventive medicine and health status: The influence of politics on health status in a rural Mexican villageKenyon Rainier Stebbins Social Science & Medicine, 1986, vol. 23, issue 2, 139-148 Abstract: This paper examines a recent program which purports to address the health concerns of millions of poor rural Mexicans whose constitutional guarantees of health have been largely ignored. This new program asserts the importance of preventive medicine, but makes little effort to implement preventive measures. The curative medicine it does emphasize in practice may alleviate pain and suffering for a time, but ignores critical factors that contribute to the persistence of disease. This paper examines why underdeveloped countries are more likely to implement curative than preventive services for poor people, even while proclaiming the importance of preventive measures. In dependent capitalist economies, the rural penetration of state-directed health services perpetuates the privileged position of the political and economic elite. Based on research conducted in a highland Chinantec village in Oaxaca, this paper concludes that the recent health services program addresses symptoms rather than causes of disease and is not likely to significantly improve the health status of the people who are most in need of such assistance. Date: 1986 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:23:y:1986:i:2:p:139-148 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier |
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