Argentina NGO works to prevent deaths from curable diseases

Americas Now

A non-governmental organization in Argentina is working to prevent senseless deaths to curable diseases. Cuerpo y Alma, or ‘Body and Soul’ delivers supplies and expertise to the poorest regions of the country.

Many of these deaths are a result of poverty and lack of medical knowledge. The size and remote nature of some of Argentina’s regions also makes it difficult for medical knowledge and supplies to get to the sick.

This week’s Americas Now Game Changer is Jorge De All, a physician and head of Cuerpo y Alma. De All started that the organization with only 12-15 volunteers, and it has now grown to more than 50 volunteers. One week a year, volunteers drive from the capital Buenos Aires to deliver supplies around the country including far off places like Chaco Province in northwest Argentina, where 47 percent of people live below the poverty line.

One of the biggest problems Cuerpo y Alma is targeting is Argentina’s infant mortality rate, which is about 15 per 1,000 children. This is double Chile’s rate and three times that of Cuba. De All hopes that their work can help reduce the death rate so that it’s comparable to its neighbors in the region.