History of Latin American Dermatology

PAULO R. CUNHAKaposi’s sarcoma, respectively. These initiatives came under the coordination of Dr.Ronaldo Barros de Freitas.The Chair of the Dermatology and Syphilology Clinic was created in 1922, for thefourth year of the medical course of the then-Medical and Surgery School of Pará, withProfessor Manuel Ferreira dos Santos Bastos leading the specialized field. In 1951, Prof.Domingos Barbosa da Silva was appointed Head of the Chair, confirmed in 1955; formany years, he was also in charge of the leadership of the Dermatology Department, inwhich many generations of specialists were trained.The Department of Tropical Pathology, Dermatology Service of the Federal Universityof Pará — of which the Head is an ex-president of the BSD, Dr. Arival Cardoso de Brito— carries out its activity in two sections, at premises located at the facilities of Pará’sHoly House of Mercy Foundation. There are eight outpatient rooms, an auditorium, agraduate mini-auditorium, a dermopathology laboratory, a mycology laboratory, twosurgery wards, a ward for ulcers, an infirmary ward, a medicine-delivery office, a library,an office for the secretary and two waiting rooms for patients.The current Dermatology faculty of the PAFU is made up of 13 professors. Researchon various topics is carried out, such as treatment with new chemotherapies for JorgeLobo’s disease, hanseniasis and leishmaniasis, superficial and deep mycoses with imidazolesand the use of new compounds in ectoparasitosis.PernambucoIn Pernambuco, the services certified by the BSD correspond to the Hospital of theFederal University Clinics, the Head of the Service being Prof. Josemir Belo dos Santos;the Santo Amaro Hospital, the Head of the Service being Professor Itamar Belo dos Santos,and the Oswaldo Cruz University Hospital, the Head of the Service being Prof. Dr.Emmanuel Rodrigues de França.CearáFounded in 1975, the current Dona Libânia Dermatology Center, of Ceará’s StateHealth Secretariat, is the public and macro-regional referral center for hanseniasis. Fortwenty years, it carried out hanseniasis and tuberculosis control activities. Presently, italso performs treatment, research and education activities. It covers the sectors ofhansenology, leishmaniasis, skin cancer, STD, cutaneous allergy, pediatric dermatology,dermatological surgery, tuberculosis and other dermatoses. Its General Director is Dr.Heitor de Sá Gonçalves, second Secretary of the BSD in the 2005-2006 management; theHead of the Service is Dr. Maria Araci Pontes Aires.In 2003, the BSD awarded a new certification to the Walter Cantídio University Hospital,the Head of the Service being Dr. José Wilson Acioly Filho.Rio Grande do NorteThe Dermatology Service linked to the Medical School, located at the Onofre LopesHospital of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, under the coordination of Dr.Pedro Bezerra da Trindade Neto, has its own area within the Hospital, with six outpatientrooms, two wards equipped for surgery and cryosurgery, a cosmiatry ward, one mycologylaboratory, a meeting room, a phototherapy unit, one ward for ulcers and aninfirmary with six beds. Certified in 1999 by the BSD, it offers the Dermatology course,practice and theory courses for seventh-period medical students, and theoretical andpractical training for doctors carrying out their medical internships at the clinic and forMedical Doctorate students. The service annually provides two internship vacancies authorizedby the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC). In the last five years, 91% of internspassed the exam to obtain the degree of specialist from the BSD.At this service, research projects and scientific works in the area of bullous90