Abstract

Using the approaches of history of the present, this article recovers the discussions surrounding the 12th International Conference on Cancer carried out in Buenos Aires in 1978, in reaction to which Georges Périès organized a "counter-conference" in Paris. In order to understand this discussion, the political situation of the time is described, as is the state of human rights at the time in Argentina, the role of the media - in particular the newspapers La Nación and Clarín and the magazine Gente - and the institutional position adopted by the National Academy of Medicine, as expressed in a letter sent to the presidents of the primary scientific societies of the world. The letter is reprinted in this text as a documentary source, taken from Memoria: Año 1978 (Presidencia de Dr. José E. Rivarola) [Acta: Year 1978 (Presidency of Dr. José E. Rivarola)]. The framework of the discussion makes reference to science's social policy versus science's supposed neutrality and the role of scientific societies.