Paper short abstract:

In this presentation I wish to reflect on two distinct research experiences dealing with medical belongings, the hospital and the State across the Globe.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation I wish to reflect on two distinct research experiences dealing with medical belongings, the hospital and the State across the Globe: a long term fieldwork in Yaoundé central hospital (Cameroon), one of biggest and oldest in the city and a short "encounter" with the closed iconic Charity hospital in New Orleans, United States, a hospital with a record of caring for the poor and the uninsured that was closed just a few weeks after hurricane after Katrina. I want to explore whether it is possible to think what the hospital represents for the inhabitants of Yaoundé, in terms of negative experiences, anger and death together with the deep affective attachment connected to the Charity hospital in New Orleans that stopped operated ten years ago. Both are public hospitals that originally had a mission to care for the poorer in the city and are intrinsically connected to their social and political role for the city and the society. But they today exist in different ways, their promise and remembering, the projects attached to them. These two hospitals allow us to reflect on specific periods and ruptures of the promise of affordable and equitable healthcare.