Abstract
As a presentation of the dossier “From Independence to Empire: health and disease in Brazil in the nineteenth century,” the article contrast “modern Brazil” imagined by the medical and political elites on the occasion of the First Centenary of Independence in 1922 with the numerous problems and challenges in the field of health that the republic, in its third decade, had inherited from the colonial and Imperial periods. In addition, it highlights issues in the history of health in the 19th century that allow the readers of the dossier to reflect on the unfulfilled civilizational promises of 1822-1922 in light of the immense challenges of the year 2022 when Brazil completes two hundred years of political sovereignty.
Key words:
Public health; History; Republic; Imperial Brazil; Medicine