Tuberculosis, a disease that was on the decline in Argentina throughout the 1980s and 1990s, has been on the upswing since 2000, with more than 13,000 new cases each year, reports the Argentine Health Ministry's epidemiology department. The national average reaches 33 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in this country of 37 million people. But in some impoverished provinces, like the northwestern Jujuy and Salta, incidence of the disease reaches 90 cases per 100,000 people.

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that can be deadly if it is not treated. Provincial doctors report that the patients who are poorest are more likely to wait until the illness is advanced before seeking treatment. Others quit taking medications once they feel better, and then suffer relapses, thus creating danger of further contagion.