Extreme poverty and lack of access to essential services in the far northeast of Salta province claimed the lives of two girls and three boys in just five days. Four of them suffered from malnutrition. The deaths occurred between March 12 and 16.

The children were members of communities belonging to the Wichí Nation, located within the jurisdiction of the municipality of Santa Victoria Este in Salta province, on the tri-border area with Bolivia and Paraguay. This area of ​​the Rivadavia department is included within the socio-sanitary emergency declared in 2020 due to the deaths of children, mostly Indigenous, from causes related to hunger. So far this year, 11 minors, ranging from newborns to teenagers, have died in Santa Victoria Este.

Presentes obtained detailed information on the five deaths; four of those deaths were confirmed by the Ministry of Public Health of Salta.

The children

The first two deaths occurred on March 12. A one-and-a-half-month-old baby girl from the San Miguel community, who was also hospitalized in Tartagal, died from severe acute malnutrition. Another girl, two years and five months old, from the Vertientes Chica community, died in Santa Victoria Este Hospital. She also had a history of malnutrition and upon arrival at the hospital was suffering from vomiting, diarrhea, and severe dehydration. This girl had previously been hospitalized for low weight, but her parents removed her despite medical advice against it.

On March 14, a two-year-and-four-month-old boy who was also underweight died in the town of General Mosconi. On March 16, a one-year-and-eight-month-old boy from the Nueva Esperanza Mission community died while hospitalized at the Juan Domingo Perón Hospital in the city of Tartagal. The only death that sources indicated was not related to malnutrition occurred on March 13. A two-year-and-three-month-old boy from La Paz Mission (a town bordering Paraguay) who suffered from an autoimmune disease died.

According to these sources, the new wave of deaths has several contributing causes: structural poverty, deficiencies in health care (with shortages of supplies and medicines in the regional hospital), the distance from more complex health centers, extreme heat, and floods that make roads impassable.

Several days without eating

“This week several things came together: first, people are hungry, we went from eating once a day to going several days without eating,” a source stated to explain the increased demand for healthcare in the context of the crisis the entire country is enduring, exacerbated under the presidential administration of Javier Milei. 

In addition, the heat was especially noticeable these days, with temperatures around

Temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, causing heatstroke and dehydration. Another factor was the overflowing of the Pilcomayo River, which made access to some communities, such as San Miguel, even more difficult.

According to various sources, the poor condition of the Santa Victoria Este Hospital is another contributing factor. They also described deficiencies in the patient transport system and a lack of necessary supplies. And the bias in the treatment of Indigenous people and Creole farmers plays a role. “People are treated worse than animals,” one source stated.

The forgotten north

The sources also highlighted that the hospital is experiencing medication shortages and that stocks of infant formula for nutritional recovery are not being replenished. This latter issue is also linked to cuts in the resources that the national government is supposed to send to the provinces.

In an interview with Presentes, Undersecretary of Social Medicine Gabriela Dorigato emphasized that in this territory, whose population is predominantly Indigenous, there is a permanent presence of the Salta provincial government through technical teams from the Public Health and Social Development departments. However, Dorigato acknowledged that there are structural problems that require even greater state support. 

“The province of Salta is always the forgotten north, and this is the most forgotten north, with a lot of social debt and requiring a lot of investment to equalize opportunities,” he stated.

Price increases and supply problems in the Milei era

The advance of the agricultural frontier into ancestral Indigenous lands, with its consequent decline in hunting, fishing, and gathering resources, has now been compounded by rising food prices. Dorigato said that the change in national government, now in the hands of La Libertad Avanza, “has impacted the resources available to the people themselves. This is clearly an emergency zone, an area that needs greater protection, if you will, social protection,” he insisted.

The sharp increase in the cost of food and transport since Javier Milei took office has had an even deeper impact on these populations far from the country's nerve center.

“Bringing food from Buenos Aires to Salta is already expensive. Imagine when it has to reach a community like Victoria,” Dorigato pointed out.

Furthermore, it is difficult to travel from the communities to the urban centers of the area.

“People spend their Food Card or Universal Child Allowance on transportation. They spend everything they receive, so that is the biggest impact we are feeling on the social situation of families.”

State Response

The public disclosure of the deaths led to a delegation from the Ministry of Public Health of Salta visiting the Hospital and the Child Nutritional Recovery Center located in Santa Victoria Este on March 21.

Later, the Minister of Public Health, Federico Mangione, assured that work is underway to optimize the overall functioning of the hospitals. The residents of Victoria, as it is known locally, have been reporting deficiencies at the local hospital. In a region with intense heat, it lacks air conditioning and there are not enough fans; they also claim there is a shortage of medications and other supplies. And there are complaints of mistreatment by some hospital staff.  

The Ministry of Health reported that ten children are currently hospitalized at the Santa Victoria Este Nutritional Recovery Center, receiving timely nutritional treatment and early intervention. The center has a maximum capacity of ten beds, and sources in the area told Presentes that the demand, especially in recent months, far exceeds that number.

Since its founding two years ago, the Center has rehabilitated more than 160 children. But demand is overwhelming. All summer long, its ten beds were occupied. Sources indicated that most of the rehabilitated children return to the center, and pointed out that this is due to the persistence of the underlying structural causes of their malnutrition. This area has high rates of unmet basic needs.

The sources added that in recent weeks, requests, especially for the care of children, have overwhelmed the response capacity of the hospital and the Recovery Center.

"The nurses treat us badly."

Regarding the actions of the Salta government in that territory, the Undersecretary of Social Medicine stated that they are carrying out “preventive work.” Since November, the regional hospitals have been submitting weekly schedules for field visits based on the data they have regarding times or locations of greatest vulnerability.

The visit by the Health team did not satisfy Indigenous leaders in Santa Victoria Este. Chief Celedonio Torres, from the Misión San Luis community, stated that they are still waiting for Minister Mangione to speak with those who know firsthand about the healthcare they receive.

“I’m very upset with the minister because he doesn’t know the situation,” he said. In addition to confirming the shortcomings pointed out by other sources, he stated that the hospital lacks professionals and training, and that there are nurses who “don’t even know how to administer an IV.” Furthermore, “there’s mistreatment; the nurses treat us badly, and sometimes the doctors don’t provide good care.”