Health
Economic Reforms Trigger Medication Crisis for Argentina’s Retirees
by Nicole Jeanine Johnson
This article is part of a reporting project from students at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism on stories from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In 2023, the so-called “mega” decree by President Javier Milei deregulated Argentina’s economy.
Since then, jubilados, or retirees, have hit the streets in protest as medicine for chronic diseases have become unaffordable for many. Those citizens now seek support from nonprofits like El Pobre de Asís.
Alfredo Ferro is among those affected.
“I’m 83 years old, Ferro said. “I’m a volunteer here at the retirement center. I had another one, another pill that they cancelled, they took it away from me, so I had to come here.”
El Pobre once served only the homeless. Now, because of government cuts, it provides free prescriptions to retirees as well.
“We have the social pharmacy that provides free medicines to people that need it, as prescribed by our doctors,” says Victor Russo, the group’s founding director.
The social pharmacy runs through a partnership with a medicine charity called Tzedaká.
“Retirees come here looking for the medications that they cannot buy,” said Russo. “We send the prescriptions to the medicine charity, and they give us the medicine. Then here at El Pobre Asís Foundation, we distribute it to the respective beneficiaries.”
The Tzedaká Foundation is Argentina’s largest medicine charity and Director Fabian Furman says it receives donations from labs, companies and individuals to fill public needs.
“We receive donations every day, and deliver them for free to vulnerable people all across the country,” said Furman. “The medicine charity helps 50,000 people a year. There would be no other way for those in vulnerable situations to buy the medicines that they need.”
Among the high demand medications: diabetes medication Metformin and blood clot treatment Clopidogrel.
Furman says the charity specializes in providing medicines for chronic diseases. “If they cannot afford or access their medication, their condition gets worse. So the charity was created to help that basic need,” he said.
The Tzedaká foundation depends on volunteers like Ruth Kalika to process daily donations.
“We’re responsible for making sure that the medicine expiration date hasn’t passed,” said Kalika. “Then we count out the specific number of pills to include in each pack according to the prescription.”
Furman says they depend on volunteers like Kalika to keep up with the consistent increase in daily donations.
Despite support, the medicine charity helps only 1.5% percent of the 3.3 million needy retirees. This gap is unlikely to be filled by the private sector alone.
