Control of cervical cancer in minas gerais in the mid-1900s: The belo horizonte hospital of gynecology

Abstract

This article discusses the structuring of the Hospital of Gynecology in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, which was founded by the gynecologist Clóvis Salgado in 1939 as part of efforts to control cervical cancer. Created as a space for practical teaching in the School of Medicine, the hospital was a pioneer in introducing colposcopy in the state and establishing a structure specifically for care and diagnosis. This analysis investigates how promoting and attempting to assert diagnostic technologies were important in organizing this institution and its professional staff. The hospital firmly established itself in terms of activities to control cervical cancer by disseminating colposcopy as a technique, establishing dialogs with similar national institutions, and participating in exchanges with German science.