Abstract

This text is the transcription of Ramon Carrillo's opening speech at the 2nd Conference of Epidemiology and Endemic Diseases on October 6, 1947. It was originally published in 1949 in the book Política sanitaria argentina (Argentine public health policy), which includes articles, conferences and official speeches by this man who, in 1946, took office as Public Health Secretary and later became the first Public Health Minister of Argentina. In the words of the author himself: "one of the triumphs of contemporary medicine resides precisely in that it has solved - or almost solved - the serious problems of infectious diseases; if these diseases continue to persist in certain aspects it is due exclusively to government negligence regarding the things that directly affect the life and health of the people." Such words serve to remind us of the social character of the health-disease-care problems in social groups. The reprinting of this speech in the section "Memory and History" seeks to highlight the relevance of public health thought formulated 65 years ago that continues to speak to the current situation of public health in Argentina.