80 / 105
80
História
1.
Introduction:
From the Pasteurian or microbiological revolution
which began during the last quarter of the nineteenth
century, tropical medicine developed into a scientific
discipline with its own professional networks strong-
ly embedded in industrialised nations (Arnold, 1988;
2003). Owing to its association with imperial pro-
jects, tropical medical schools which emerged from
the late 19
th
century, became part of a broader re-
search community engaging with tropical environ-
ments and populations (Amaral, 2008; Bashford,
2004; Havik, 2015; Morange & Fantini, Osborne,
2014; Power, 1998; ) As a result, tropical medicine
gradually developed a body of trans-national scientific
and managerial expertise in the combat, control and
eradication of communicable and non-communicable
diseases (Neill, 2012; Mertens and Lachenal, 2012).
As microbiology, parasitology and epidemiology es-
tablished themselves as its core tools, preventive
medicine and clinical research made its inroads in
public and international health.The expansion of pub-
lic health networks during the twentieth century with
supranational organizations such as the League of Na-
tions Health Organisation (LNHO), the Rockefeller
Foundation Health Organization, the World Health
Organization (WHO), and more recently the Global
Fund, intensified the focus on and raised public aware-
ness of the combat against neglected tropical diseases
(NTDs) (Birn, 2009; Borowy, 2009; Brown, Cueto
and Fee, 2006; Farley, 2004; Siddiqi, 1995;Weindling,
2009). Over a period of more than a century, new
forms of treatment, screening, diagnostics and con-
trol and surveillance programmes were developed for
trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, malaria and yellow
fever as well as dengue, chikungunya, onchocerciasis,
leishmaniosis, schistosomiasis and leprosy (Fürst et al,
2017; Hotez et al, 2007). Over time, tropical medi-
cine also engaged with public health and social medi-
cine as its focus centered on reducing the burden of
disease among vulnerable populations in low income
countries (Porter, 1997; 2006).
In the meantime, the political context in tropical re-
gions was to change radically, with the end of empire
and decolonisation, obliging tropical medicine and its
institutions to adapt to new public health strategies at
a national and international level. Since the Alma Ata
Conference (1978) gave priority to the development
of primary health care and social welfare, vertical dis-
ease control programmes were gradually integrated
into health services (Bitton et al, 2016). However, ep-
idemics, famines, ecological disasters, climate change,
conflict and migrations were and are placing a heavy
burden upon the capacity of already fragile health
systems in low income countries to cope with these
challenges and implement effective strategies (Ho-
tez, 2017; Pantoja et al, 2017). The progressive in-
teraction between tropical medicine and public health
broadened the range of expertise, to include sexually
transmitted diseases, incl. HIV/AIDS, and opportun-
istic diseases, health systems management, sanitation,
travel medicine, nutrition and the environment.
But at the same time, the implementation of disease
and eradication measures gave rise to a series of ques-
tions on the effectiveness of new screening methods
and rapid tests, preventive surveillance programmes,
their impact upon therapeutic trajectories and upon
patients’ health and increased drug resistance. At the
same time, (re)emerging diseases underline the need
to look beyond tropical regions and redesign meth-
ods and strategies, strengthen inputs in biomedical
research, improve the capacity of health services and
human resources in health, new digital technologies
such as e-Learning and m-Health, and the produc-
tion and exchange of reliable and compatible health
statistics (Hurt et al, 2016; Snowden, 2008). The in-
ternationalization and globalization of health through
the agency of international organizations and global
health campaigns, have also focused attention on part-
nerships between them, the pharmaceutical industry,
tropical medical schools and developing countries to
effectively reduce the disease burden of communica-
ble and non-communicable diseases.
The WHTM aimed to provide a platform to further
develop the critical debate on the role and trajectory
of tropical medicine in a global context, privileging
the presentation of innovative approaches and unpub-
lished data from the late 1800s to the present. Above
all, the organizers welcomed contributions that of-
fered multi-, trans-disciplinary as well as comparative
perspectives on the historiography of tropical medi-
cine. PhD and post-doctoral researchers were strong-
ly encouraged to submit proposals and provided with
an opportunity for an informed and constructive de-
bate on their research projects.
2. From tropical to global health:
historical trajectories
The papers presented at the meeting were organized
in six thematical sessions which covered the follow-
ing subjects: Tropical Medicine: Perspectives on the
Evolution and Circulation of Medical Knowledge;The
Affirmation of Tropical Medical Schools: Experts and
Medical Networks; Health systems, Endemic diseases
and Control Strategies; The Entanglement of Colo-
nial and Tropical Medicine; From Tropical to Global