The Greatest Enemy? Smallpox, Elimination, and Politics in Mexico, 1942-1970

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Nichols, M. (2016). The Greatest Enemy? Smallpox, Elimination, and Politics in Mexico, 1942-1970. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

In the 1940s, the Secretaría de Salubridad y Asistencia (SSA- Secretariat of Health and Welfare) hoped to unify Mexico to eliminate smallpox from within its borders. In 1952, Mexico had achieved that goal, but the year marked a significant shift in their smallpox campaigns. A unified front broke down as a focus on national elimination shifted to an international emphasis on disease prevention and control across borders after 1952. International and local interests competed for the SSA’s attention. This thesis argues that smallpox vaccination no longer acted as a centralizing force after 1952. Instead, conflicting goals encouraged national and international disputes which slowed efforts to centralize Mexico’s federal government in the 1950s and 1960s. That challenge to centralization after 1952 contradicts existing scholarship that sees the Ruiz Cortines and López Matos administrations as the apex of the central, dominant PRIísta state.

Details
Author

Nichols, Marissa

Title

The Greatest Enemy? Smallpox, Elimination, and Politics in Mexico, 1942-1970

Physical Description

1 online resource (71 pages) : PDF

Date

2016

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

In the 1940s, the Secretaría de Salubridad y Asistencia (SSA- Secretariat of Health and Welfare) hoped to unify Mexico to eliminate smallpox from within its borders. In 1952, Mexico had achieved that goal, but the year marked a significant shift in their smallpox campaigns. A unified front broke down as a focus on national elimination shifted to an international emphasis on disease prevention and control across borders after 1952. International and local interests competed for the SSA’s attention. This thesis argues that smallpox vaccination no longer acted as a centralizing force after 1952. Instead, conflicting goals encouraged national and international disputes which slowed efforts to centralize Mexico’s federal government in the 1950s and 1960s. That challenge to centralization after 1952 contradicts existing scholarship that sees the Ruiz Cortines and López Matos administrations as the apex of the central, dominant PRIísta state.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

History
Public health

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Disease
Eradication
Health
Mexico
Politics
Smallpox

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Buchenau, Jürgen

Committee Members

Soliz, Carmen
Perry, Heather

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2016.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Nichols_uncc_0694N_11130

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1026