A school without railings: rural backgrounds, social medicine, and the circulation of public health material in Colombia, 1930-1946

Abstract

Abstract Ambitious state hygiene education projects designed during liberal governments in Colombia (1930-1946) faced not just the poverty of rural populations, but also the reluctance of local political forces. I analyze hygiene education programs during the first two liberal governments of the Liberal Republic. I argue that public health programs did not reach their audience due to local clientelism and political corruption. The sources of this article come mainly from Colombia’s Ministry of Education reports and cultural magazines. The education sector also had health-related responsibilities and developed assessments of local needs, which contributed to public health programs. Latin America’s public health historiography could be enriched by exploring failures in the implementation of projects in the history of social medicine.

Keywords

• public health
• social medicine
• history