[The Medical-Pharmaceutical Department of the Junta for aid to Spanish Republicans, Mexico delegation]

Between 1940 and 1942, the Mexican delegation of the Junta for Aid to Spanish republicans founded and supported its own Medical-Pharmaceutical Department in Mexico City, formed by recently exiled Spanish professionals. It initially dealt with home medical care, charging for each medical service performed by specialists and each drug prescription. It later included a polyclinic with a staff of specialists and its own pharmacy. Finally, a small hospital and a laboratory for medical tests were planned, but circumstances prevented the project from getting under way. The study addresses the reasons for the birth of the Medical Pharmaceutical Service, its funding, organization and functioning, the professionals on whom it depended, its lines of action and its immediate projects. It also covers the main problems faced during its development and the reasons for its forced dissolution.