Health and beliefs in Argentina: knowledge, decisions and demands

Abstract

This article analyzes the data on health and beliefs that emerge from the Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs and Attitudes in Argentina (2019). From a perspective of the sociology of beliefs and religions, we will present the data on the level of importance of consulting religious specialists for health reasons. Then, we will focus on the different beliefs and religious affiliations that are mobilized, abandoned or are indifferent to the suffering of different diseases. We address the issue of the disease management strategies drawn from the consultations - taking into account both their exclusionary relationships, and of complementarity- that people who responded do or say they prefer when they go through various health problems. Finally, we will analyze how these beliefs and religious affiliations influence or not when defining positions around controversial issues, such as euthanasia, or issues on the public health agenda, such as the legalization of marijuana and the sanction of the law of voluntary termination of pregnancy.