History of Latin American Dermatology

EPILOGUETHE EDITORSEvery work that is completed entails the culmination of an effort. Nevertheless, on rereadingeverything that our dear Latin American dermatologist colleagues have written,on reviewing the paths covered by our predecessors in the treatment of their contemporaries’skin, on regarding the extraordinary figures that this continent has contributed toworld Dermatology, we cannot but imagine that is not the end but, as we said in the Prefaceto this same book, the beginning of a road.Latin American unity isn’t a utopia but a need, as is well posited by Rafael Falabellawhen reflecting on the future of our Latin American Dermatology.We share, within our differences, innumerable characteristics and habits, the fruit ofthe amalgamation among natives, conquerors and the immigrants at the end of the nineteenthcentury.We also share countless problems such as medical overpopulation in large cities anddeficit in the periphery, and differences in the possibility of access to specialists andmeans of diagnosis and treatment among the social sectors of a same country and subregion.But we likewise share the creative capacity of our dermatologists, demonstrated intheir daily adaptation to the deficiencies in health systems, and in their individual developmentwhen they work in more favorable environments.We also share the language, which eases our communications and allows us, at thesame time, to differentiate ourselves with our regionalisms.With these elements, with these abilities, and with the capacity to broach tasks incommon such as those that have been entailed by this book and this XXI World Congressof Dermatology, we cannot deny that we see that the time has arrived to make the Unityof Latin American Dermatology become a fact. It is only a question of joining wills, settingaside personal aspirations, and tackling a new project for future generations.The beneficiaries of this achievement will be the young dermatologists of this regionand, particularly, all the population that depends on their knowledge and scientific development.We cannot end this History of Latin American Dermatology without apologizing to allthose who have been omitted or mentioned erroneously. The Dermatological Societies ofall Latin America, with very scarce exceptions, have appointed those they consideredbest suited to writing the history of each country. The material they sent us was reviewedby the appropriate technical bodies, and once corrected sent back to their authors for449