MARAÑA Leishmaniasis and the Pharmaceuticalization of War in Colombia
MARAÑA Leishmaniasis and the Pharmaceuticalization of War in Colombia Lina Beatriz Pinto-García A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate program in Science & Technology Studies York University Toronto, Ontario April 2020 © Lina Beatriz Pinto-García, 2020 Abstract This dissertation is an ethnography concerned with a skin disease called cutaneous leishmaniasis, transmitted through the bite of sandflies that belong to densely forested tropical environments. It is a non-contagious, non-deadly, and usually painless disease, which starts with a tiny sore that continues to grow into an ulcer. In Colombia, soldiers, guerrillas, and paramilitaries constitute the populations most affected by this disease, as a result of spending months immersed in the same landscapes where sandflies thrive. Among those who have heard about leishmaniasis, this illness is often stigmatized as “the guerrilla disease.” The misconception that leishmaniasis is a guerrilla illness solely has deeply infused certain imaginaries with gruesome consequences. This is reinforced by the state’s restriction on access to antileishmanial medicines, a measure that is commonly interpreted as a warfare strategy to affect insurgent groups. This work explores the ways in which leishmaniasis and the war are inextricably connected and mutually reinforcing. Situated at the intersection between STS and critical medical anthropology, it draws on fifteen months of multi-sited field research (October 2016 - December 2017), conducted during the peace implementation period after the agreement reached by the Colombian government and FARC, the oldest and largest guerrilla organization in Latin America. Research also involved more than 70 interviews with a diverse array of actors, including Army members, FARC guerrillas, scientists, medical professionals, peasants, representatives of multilateral health institutions, civil servants, and survivors of kidnapping.
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