Serviço especial de saúde pública: cooperação em saúde no Estado do Piauí (1956-1960)

Abstract

The Special Public Health Service (SESP), created in 1942, initially aimed to ensure sanitary conditions in the regions of the Amazon and the Rio Doce Valley, protecting strategic workers and U.S. soldiers. Over time, its operations expanded to other states, including Piauí. Thus, the general objective of this study was to analyze how the State of Piauí was integrated into the sanitation actions carried out by SESP during the 1950s. Specifically, the study sought to discuss the context and purpose of SESP's insertion in Piauí, characterize the sanitary conditions of the state during that decade, and identify the results obtained from its activities between 1956 and 1960. Additionally, a brief analysis of the trajectory of public health in Brazil during the first half of the twentieth century was also pursued. Methodologically, this was a bibliographic and documental research with a quantitative approach, although supported by quantitative data. This is due to the contribution of various authors who, in the field of historiography, help to understand public health in Brazil and the role played by SESP in this process since its creation, such as Alvarenga (2013), Bastos (1996), Campos (2006), Fonseca (2006), Hochman (2012), Peçanha (1976), among others. Primary documents mainly consisted of government messages, federal decrees and laws, and documents made available by health agencies. Finally, the results obtained were satisfactory, pointing to a significant contribution of SESP in the state public health scenario despite limitations in sources.