Manguinhos hospitals: reflections oscientific politics and heritage, from tropical diseases to covid-19

Abstract

In 2020 the world suffered from covid-19. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz faced itself again with a challenging task. One of its strategies while battling the disease was building a hospital. It was not the first time the institution would build such a healthcare facility. The first hospital, which nowadays needs preservation measures, opened in 1918 intending to study and treat tropical diseases. The second, built in 2021, was a field hospital designed to treat the new epidemic victims. This article aims to reflect upon both hospitals’ construction contexts, as well as contribute to studies on the history of science and health.