A Brief History of Tuberculosis in Portugal

Abstract

Tuberculosis was a very serious disease in Portugal, particularly in the 19^th and 20th centuries, having victimized writers such as Júlio Dinis, António Nobre, Cesário Verde and António Aleixo. A pioneering initiative was the creation, in Funchal, of the Hospício Princesa D. Maria Amélia, in 1853. After German bacteriologist Robert Koch identified the causative bacteria, decisive steps were taken to improve public hygiene and eradicate the disease in Portugal with the creation, in 1899, of the National Assistance for Tuberculosis (since 1945, nationalized and renamed the Institute for National Assistance to Tuberculosis) by Queen D. Amélia, and the National League against Tuberculosis by Miguel Bombarda. Simultaneously, several sanatoriums were established: the Sousa Martins in Guarda, founded by Lopo de Carvalho, in 1907, and the Caramulo Sanatorium, founded by Jerónimo de Lacerda, in 1920. Finally, the application of the BCG vaccine, invented in 1921, and widespread among us, belonging to the national vaccination plan as of the 1950s, and the application of an antibiotic (streptomycin), identified in 1946 and soon used here, proved to be effective tools against tuberculosis. In this article we intend to present, in general lines, the development of the disease among us, highlighting the reception of medical novelties, and its progressive evanescence, which is not yet total.