Registro da memória audiovisual do combate à doença de Chagas no município de Cássia dos Coqueiros, São Paulo

Abstract

Some of the major advances in Chagas’s disease control in Brazil should be credited to Professor José Lima Pedreira de Freitas (1917-1966). From 1947 to 1966, his contributions included development of serological techniques, investigations on the biological aspects of the triatomines, as well as clinical and epidemiological studies. His most relevant achievement, however, was a technique for controlling triatomines based upon selective spraying of insecticide only within infested houses, which was thought and developed in Cassia dos Coqueiros, a small village in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Named selective purge, this revolutionary technique combined high efficacy, low cost and less environmental risks, which caused it to be largely adopted in the American continent. Unfortunately, its authorship has been missed within the brazilian public health memory, being its association with Cássia dos Coqueiros and Pedreira de Freitas rarely mentioned. The present project aimed at recovering the memory of professor Freitas’s struggle against Chagas’s disease, by developing a documentary involving participation of old local inhabitants and former professors of the Medical School which worked closely to him.