F16 | 015 Epidemics and Sustainability in History
Tracks
Burns - Seminar 7
| Tuesday, July 1, 2025 |
| 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM |
| Burns, Seminar 7 |
Overview
Symposium talk
Lead presenting author(s)
A/Prof Isabel Maria Da Silva Pereira Amaral
Associate Professor With Habilitation
NOVA FCT
Epidemics and Sustainability: Rethinking Public Health and Environmental Dynamics in Portuguese Medicine (19th–20th Century)
Abstract - Symposia paper
This paper aims ate reflecting on the role of epidemics in Portuguese medical history during the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on sleeping sickness control in Africa and malaria eradication campaigns in mainland Portugal. By embedding these case studies within global narratives, it highlights how epidemics shaped sustainable health policies and revealed interconnected dynamics of health, environment, empire, and the circulation of people and knowledge.
Drawing on colonial medical reports, correspondence, and institutional records from the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU), and the Rockefeller Archive Center, as well as medical journals and public health policy documents, this research examines Portuguese responses to epidemics within global networks. These responses contributed to international debates on disease eradication and demonstrated how epidemics acted as catalysts for social, environmental, and political transformation.
Portuguese epidemic interventions often relied on vector control campaigns, which caused environmental disruptions like deforestation and habitat loss, underscoring the tension between public health goals and ecological sustainability. Using concepts such as "biopolitics" and "ecological imperialism," the study critically assesses the long-term impacts of these health interventions on human and environmental systems.
By treating epidemics as pivotal moments, this research offers a novel perspective on their role in reshaping governance and sustainability. It demonstrates how public health practices reconfigured human and ecological systems through the circulation of knowledge, policies, and practices, providing fresh insights into the enduring legacy of colonial medicine on global health and environmental strategies.
Drawing on colonial medical reports, correspondence, and institutional records from the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU), and the Rockefeller Archive Center, as well as medical journals and public health policy documents, this research examines Portuguese responses to epidemics within global networks. These responses contributed to international debates on disease eradication and demonstrated how epidemics acted as catalysts for social, environmental, and political transformation.
Portuguese epidemic interventions often relied on vector control campaigns, which caused environmental disruptions like deforestation and habitat loss, underscoring the tension between public health goals and ecological sustainability. Using concepts such as "biopolitics" and "ecological imperialism," the study critically assesses the long-term impacts of these health interventions on human and environmental systems.
By treating epidemics as pivotal moments, this research offers a novel perspective on their role in reshaping governance and sustainability. It demonstrates how public health practices reconfigured human and ecological systems through the circulation of knowledge, policies, and practices, providing fresh insights into the enduring legacy of colonial medicine on global health and environmental strategies.
Dr Gisele Porto Sanglard
Research
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
Infant mortality in Rio de Janeiro and the Spanish Flu epidemic in the Rio de Janeiro Expostos House
Abstract - Symposia paper
This paper aims to analyze the daily routine of the Casa dos Expostos of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Rio de Janeiro in 1918, considering the impact of the pandemic on the institution. We will also consider the movement of children's wards in the hospitals maintained by the institution.
Therefore, we are interested in understanding the main causes of infant mortality in the various institutions maintained by the Misericórdia in Rio de Janeiro during this period. To this end, we will look at the Casa dos Expostos death register for the year 1918 and the reports from the Santa Casa da Misericórdia.
The problem of infant mortality was significant in the then Republican capital, and we are interested in understanding the impact of epidemics, notably the Spanish Flu, on the children under the care of the pious institution.
Therefore, we are interested in understanding the main causes of infant mortality in the various institutions maintained by the Misericórdia in Rio de Janeiro during this period. To this end, we will look at the Casa dos Expostos death register for the year 1918 and the reports from the Santa Casa da Misericórdia.
The problem of infant mortality was significant in the then Republican capital, and we are interested in understanding the impact of epidemics, notably the Spanish Flu, on the children under the care of the pious institution.
