Responding to the emergency: anti-polio vaccination campaigns in Chile, 1957 and 1961-1962

Abstract

This article analyses the poliomyelitis epidemics in Chile and the vaccination operations carried out in 1957 and 1961-1962, the first using the inactivated Salk vaccine and the second the attenuated Sabin vaccine. Although the disease was not a determining factor in the country's infant mortality rates, the perceived risk was high because of the paralysis and other sequelae it left in children. In this context, immunization campaigns moved from being funded by corporate initiatives, through the import and purchase of vaccines by private individuals, to becoming a public policy led by the National Health Service (SNS). Drawing on SNS reports, Chilean medical journals and the press of the period, the article examines the logistical and financial challenges that the Chilean health authority faced in acquiring the doses, distributing them throughout the country and promoting inoculation, a process that achieved significant results in the short term. It concludes that, by overcoming problems of access and continuity, the vaccination programme reduced the incidence of the disease, with international cooperation playing a crucial role. In turn, the elimination of poliomyelitis in 1975 is presented as a significant achievement that helped consolidate the legitimacy and institutional capacities of the SNS.