‘Miracle Drugs’ versus State Bureaucracy and Regulations: The Introduction of Sulpha Drugs and Antibiotics in Chile, 1930s–1950s

Summary This article deals with the impact of the early introduction of sulpha drugs and antibiotics in Chile before mass production. Sulphonamides were swiftly introduced in the late 1930s since they were cheap and widely available. Mortality rates for infectious diseases that could be treated with sulpha drugs declined quickly. However, the equivalent impact of penicillin and other antibiotics on reducing mortality for other infectious diseases took longer to develop. There were many barriers to the widespread provision of antibiotics in Chile: antibiotics remained expensive; international supply was insufficient; the country did not have any significant level of own production; imports were further limited given the country’s prohibition of some imports, the lack of foreign currency to finance imports, and strong regulation of internal commercialisation. Only the construction of a WHO plant for penicillin solved the shortage of antibiotics and markedly reduced mortality rates.