HEALTH IN BRAZIL DURING THE COLONIAL AND IMPERIAL PERIOD: (SPECIFIC ACTIONS, FOCUS ON EPIDEMICS AND SOCIAL CONTROL)

Abstract

This article thoroughly analyzes health in Brazil during the colonial and imperial periods, focusing on sanitary actions, social control, epidemics, and the role of religious and charitable institutions. The study reveals that health practices were fragmented, reactive, and primarily aimed at protecting elites and economic order rather than providing universal care. Through bibliographic and documentary analysis, and based on authors such as Chalhoub (1996), Paim (2008), Hochman (2013), Costa (2004), and Benchimol (2000), it is shown that measures such as quarantines, vaccination campaigns, and slum regulation had a dual purpose: sanitary and disciplinary. Direct and indirect citations reinforce the understanding of social and political dynamics. The study also highlights the importance of popular knowledge, emerging academic medicine, and cultural resistance against state policies, emphasizing the historical legacy that shaped contemporary Brazilian health systems.