Abril 2024
A “Hug” to the Fernandes Figueira Institute was promoted to collect donations. The 2024 volume of HCS-Manguinhos celebrates the Institute’s centenary. It was incorporated into Fiocruz more than 50 years ago and is dedicated to women’s and children’s health.
In the early twentieth century, infant mortality, the abandonment of children by low-income families, and the exploitation of child labor were seen as serious problems that were diverting Brazil from its developmental aspirations.
A number of physicians, legislators, and legal experts worked hard to get the “problems of childhood” included in the political agenda. A key figure amongst these actors was the pediatrician Antônio Fernandes Figueira, whose endeavors resulted in the creation of institutions and public policies for mothers and infants.
An essential player in Brazilian pediatrics, Fernandes Figueira, advocated for preventive health for children, science education for mothers, and the crucial importance of breastfeeding. Between 1924 and 1926, he established the Hospital Abrigo Arthur Bernardes, which offered specific medical care for children.
When Fernandes Figueira died in 1928, the hospital rapidly declined and was shut down in 1935. It was only reopened at the end of the 1930s, and in 1946, it was renamed the Fernandes Figueira Institute (Instituto Fernandes Figueira, IFF).
In 1970, the federal government created the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fundação Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz), the umbrella organization for several biomedical institutes, including IFF. As part of the new foundation, it became a designated unit for women’s and children’s health, resulting in profound institutional transformations.
One area among the various actions that responded to the new demands was neonatal care. Alongside developments in neonatology, progress was also achieved in pediatrics and pediatric surgery. In the following decade, the Institute reformulated one of its areas with the most significant social impact: its human milk bank. Initially envisaged as a center for the processing and distributing of human milk, the bank was transformed into a breastfeeding service, focusing on care for mothers and health education initiatives promoting breastfeeding.
In its 2024 volume, Historia Ciencias Saúde Manguinhos celebrates IFFś centenary. In addition to the letter from the editors signed by Luiz Antonio Teixeira and Larissa Velasquez de Souza, researchers at IFF, our latest volume features four articles about the Institute and its work related to mothers and children healthcare:
Editor’s note: “The Fernandes Figueira Institute: a century devoted to mothers, children, and adolescents“.
Interweaving memories: the Fernandes Figueira Institute through a generational perspective
The history of teaching at the Fernandes Figueira Institute: an interview with Susana Wuillaume
