Did development aid help to bring about better health in the South?
Arturo: A lot of the money intended for development aid, has been wasted on selective, ‘horizontal’ programs. We have been working on the issue of child malnutrition for the last ten years, because it affects 70 percent of children. When it was decided action was needed, the advisory committee wasted all the available funds in one single year, with nothing to show for. That’s why we need to empower the people, so they can speak up for themselves, especially in these trying times. Why is it, that Alma Ata faced so much resistance? Wim: It always comes down to a question of priorities. After Alma Ata, the idea of selective primary health care was popularized by people from the Rockefeller Foundation. That’s the same organization that had promoted colonial medicines in the US in order to increase the productivity of the local labor force. That’s why they introduced disease specific programs against the ailments that posed a threat to the productivity in the colonies. Today the same choice
