Chagas Disease in Argentina: Reciprocal Construction of Social and Scientific Problems

Abstract

This article intends to study the possibilities and limitations of scientific knowledge as a factor of social development in peripheral societies. We challenge the idea that the only promotion of scientific knowledge is a legitimate and adequate method to overcome the social problems that many people in Latin America are subjected to. Instead, we propose to investigate the relationships among the social actors involved in the production and circulation of scientific knowledge. We take the case of Chagas disease, a recurring theme in the public agenda since the 1950s, to show how the issue has emerged and has been taken in by public policies related to the production of scientific knowledge. We analyse the different viewpoints and conceptions about the disease, and how they moulded the different institutional initiatives of intervention into the problem. We assume that the practices associated with these mechanisms condition the type of knowledge produced and its possible uses.

Socio-Cultural Aspects of Chagas Disease: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research

“…Scientists' and health professionals' understandings are also developed in specific contexts and can affect their work. Kreimer et al [3] reflected historically on the production of scientific knowledge on Chagas disease in Argentina: the “problem of Chagas” was defined according to the interests of different stakeholders, which involved recognizing certain facts and neglecting others. Historically, revised definitions of appropriate intervention strategies have also involved re-conceptualizations of Chagas disease: first seen as a problem of precarious living conditions; then as a question of fumigation; and finally, as a matter for basic research, for which molecular biology was prioritized.…”

“…Most live in Latin American countries, where the parasite is endemic [1] and where control strategies were first implemented in the 1940s and 1950s [2]–[3]. Since 2000, due to expanding migration flows and increased funding for research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD), Chagas has become an international health priority.…”

“…Since 1990, the number of Chagas-related publications has shown a linear increase [3], [12]. What has qualitative social science research contributed?…”

Organisational innovation and control practices: the case of public–private mix in tuberculosis control in India

“…The medical sociology and anthropology literature confirms the importance of problem definitions. Studies of the social construction of diseases (Kreimer and Zabala , Nicholson‐Crotty and Nicholson‐Crotty ), on framing diseases (Aronowitz ), social representation (Flick ) and the role of metaphors (Sontag , Wallis and Nerlich ) show that labelling bodily processes as sickness and framing diseases (problems) in a specific way is a social process, shaped by the power and interests of the shapers. We show that definitions of problem clash, contradict or challenge each other and therefore influence organisational innovation as well.…”

Does Size Matter? The Multipolar International Landscape of Nanoscience

“…Several factors may affect international specialisation: The presence of a big instrument (such as an accelerator, an observatory [51], the availability of some specific resource (such as tropical species) [52], links to nationally strong industries for applications.…”