João de Barros Barreto: A builder of the organizational debate on health in Brazil

Abstract

The article explores João de Barros Barreto’s ideas and proposals for the field of the organization of health services in Brazil. Based on the proposal of the Capanema Reform (1937-1941), the text reveals the context of the formulationof the so-called district health model in Brazil historically, focusing on its logic, conceptual and theoretical principles and resources employed. The conclusion drawn is that Barros Barreto’s professional career, contextualized in a specific scenario of ideas, state agenda and organizational perspectives, contributed decisively to the constitution of modeling achievements of relevant organizational arrangements in the trajectory of Brazilian public health.