In just 18 months, Argentina’s President Javier Milei’s austerity push has devastated the country’s once-extensive public healthcare system. Following the cost-cutting model byUS President Donald Trump, Javier Milei suspended critical drug programs, gutted federal health agencies, and slashed budgets.
The consequences are already life-threatening. Cancer patients are dying. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Vaccine access is collapsing. The health system which used to shield Argentina’s poor, retired, and uninsured is on the verge of disintegration.
Cancer Patients Left to Die After Drug Program Shutdown
Javier Milei suspended DADSE, one of the most important agencies that offered expensive medicine for uninsured cancer patients and those suffering from rare diseases. Thousands were left without lifesaving drugs. Some survive on Facebook groups where members share donated medicine. Others never received assistance.
At least 60 cancer patients died last year while waiting for medicine the government once supplied. Four families shared such losses with the AP. A court ordered the state to resume deliveries, but Milei’s government appealed. Officials now claim DADSE no longer exists.
Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute has also lost key programs. Early detection for breast and cervical cancer has been suspended.
Disease Control Breaks Down Amid Budget Cuts
Since December 2023, when he entered office, Javier Milei reduced health expenditure by 48% in real terms. His administration fired more than 2,000 Health Ministry employees, with 1,400 of them within one week.
The HIV, Hepatitis, and Tuberculosis Directorate saw nearly half of its staff and the majority of its budget removed. Hospitals currently have shortages of testing. Medication and condoms are low.
Infections are increasing. HIV went up 20%. Syphilis increased 50%. TB increased 25%. Clinics document delays in testing and no preventive treatment for exposed families.
Public Hospitals Overwhelmed
Javier Milei removed price controls on prescription medications and private insurance. Prices skyrocketed — 250% for medication, 118% for health plans. Large numbers of Argentinos lost private plans. Others lost employer-sponsored coverage after being laid off. Free public hospitals now have 20–30% more patients than they did this time last year.
Pharmacists describe medicine shortages. Staff freezes result in doctors doing twice their normal workload. 200 medical staff have resigned from Garrahan Pediatric Hospital in Buenos Aires since Javier Milei became president. Most quit for better wages overseas or in private hospitals.
Vaccine Programs Collapse, Measles Returns
Federal vaccine funds were put on ice. Suppliers were not renewed contracts. This caused mass disruption of immunization campaigns. A first measles death in 20 years was reported in April in Argentina. Yet, the Health Ministry turned toward “holistic health,” joining Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine messaging.
Kennedy, previous Health Secretary of Trump, traveled to Buenos Aires last month. Shortly afterward, Milei confirmed Argentina’s pullout from the World Health Organization, which had assisted in providing vaccines and coordinating disease monitoring.
Javier Milei vowed a libertarian revolution. But his Trump-style budget cuts have precipitated a meltdown of Argentina’s healthcare system. Dr. Stanley Plotkin, one of the developers of the measles vaccine, cautioned: “Argentina was a public health leader. Now it’s leaving its people behind.”
