Disease and Rural Development: A Sociological Analysis of Morbidity in Two Mexican Villages

Abstract

It is suggested that the problem of the social causes of disease should be analyzed on the basis of the significant social processes of a given society. In this theoretical framework, a comparative study of two Mexican rural villages at different degrees of development is presented in order to clarify two related questions: what is the impact on morbidity of the rural development process, and what is the influence of socio-economic conditions on the distribution of disease in the population? It was found that morbidity was significantly higher in the more “developed” village than in the one characterized by a predominantly subsistence economy. This finding is ascribed to the character of Mexican rural development, similar to that of other subordinated countries, which implies a change from subsistence agriculture to cash-crops in an unstable market, a massive conversion of peasants into wage laborers with unstable employment, and substantial migration; these phenomena give rise to new, unfavorable living and working conditions for large parts of the rural population. It is argued that it is not development as such that is responsible for the increase in morbidity, but the particular form that it assumes in the dependent countries. It was also found that socioeconomic characteristics such as people's position in production, the sector of economic activity, and migration patterns define groups of high and low morbidity more clearly than do sanitary conditions and access to professional medical care. These results suggest that the success of public health activities depends on the possibility to plan the process of change.

Social inequalities and health in rural Chiapas, Mexico: agricultural economy, nutrition, and child health in La Fraylesca Region

“…Categories based on volume of maize production are also associated with health and nutritional status, and to a greater degree. These findings are remarkably consistent with those of previous studies carried out at other sites in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America (Laurell & Blanco-Gil, 1977;Victora & Vaughan, 1985). A classification scheme based on volume of maize production (as compared to land tenure) has allowed us to more precisely characterize the material circumstances of the different groups of peasants living in the region.…”

Variaciones en diferentes comunidades en mortalidad infantil y durante la lactancia en Perú : un estudio epidemiológico social

“…La asociación constante y fuerte encontrada entre el promedio de educa ción de las mujeres y la mortalidad en la infancia coincide con otras investi gaciones sobre este tema. Laurell y sus colaboradores en la Ciudad Universita ria de México (Laurell et al, 1977) informan que los procesos sociales que invo lucran actividades económicas estaban entre las condiciones más importantes pa ra el desarrollo de enfermedades en dos pueblos mexicanos. Frisancho et al (1976) documenta la conexión entre la categoría socio-económica de la familia y la mortalidad infantil en la población urbana del Perú.…”

The Latin American Social Medicine database

“…Table 1 lists the members of this committee, representing institutions in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, the United States, and Venezuela [13]. Representative examples of some of the classic books [14-16], book chapters [17-19], and articles [20-22] can be found in the list of references following this article.…”