THE Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) it is an institution linked to the Ministry of Health, therefore linked to the federal government, and that operates in research and scientific and technological development of Brazilian health. It is the most prominent organization in Latin America in the area of health science and technology.
One of Fiocruz's focuses is to carry out research in the areas of experimental medicine, biology and pathology, producing and manufacturing medicines and vaccines to improve the quality of life and public health of the Brazilian population.
Vaccines and medicines produced by the foundation aim to strengthen and consolidate the Unified Health System (SUS) — Brazilian public health care policy for the population of Brazil — and, with this, reduce social inequalities related to the health of Brazilians.
Lastly, Fiocruz trains and improves health professionals and researchers to act in the most diverse fields, especially in the SUS. There is an offer of several courses (on-site and at a distance) of specialization, master's, doctorate, among others.
Read more: Instituto Butantan – Brazilian biomedical research institution recognized worldwide
What does Fiocruz do?
![Fiocruz Castle's architecture is in the neo-Moorish style. [1]](/f/e6f66d341f695c5eedc173e79a8927f4.jpg)
Fiocruz operates in the field of education and scientific and technological development in the health area in Brazil. Among its main activities, the following stand out:
Participation in national policies in the Brazilian health area;
Conducting research and production of technologies and products to expand access to health;
Manufacture of medicines, pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other products of interest to health;
Promote research, teaching and technological development to preserve the environment and biodiversity;
Development of activities to assist the Unified Health System.
Fiocruz History
Fiocruz started its activities on May 25, 1900, at the Manguinhos Farm, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The foundation's name is in honor of the public health physician Oswaldo Cruz, who actively participated in its creation.
Fiocruz's history began in 1899, when the city of Rio de Janeiro, then capital of Brazil, asked the Municipal Vaccine Institute of Rio de Janeiro to produce serums and vaccines against bubonic plague. To meet this demand, on May 25, 1900, the Instituto Soroterápico Federal was born.
The institute was headed by Baron Pedro de Affonso and Oswaldo Cruz. The first one left the function, but the doctor continued. In 1901, the future Fiocruz became part of the federal government. With the expansion of activities, the organization began to elaborate sanitary reforms, seeking to combat not only bubonic plague but also the febre Themarela and the variole.
In 1907, the Instituto Soroterápico Federal changed its name to Instituto de Patologia Experimental de Manguinhos. The following year, it was renamed Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
In 1970, the Human Resources for Health Foundation was transformed, by decree, into the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). Already in 1974, the organization passedor The CallOswaldo Cruz Foundation.
See too: Vaccine Revolt – motivatedThe for the mandatory vaccination campaign of Oswaldo Cruz
Fiocruz's first doctors
Oswaldo Cruz and Carlos Chagas were the two doctors who were part of Fiocruz's board of directors in its early years. The professional trajectory of both is intertwined with the foundation's history. Read a summary about the two doctors:
Oswaldo Cruz
Oswaldo Gonçalves Cruz was born in São Luís do Paraitinga (SP), on August 5, 1872, but two years later, his family moved to Rio de Janeiro. The future physician's interest in microbiology began in childhood, when he set up a small laboratory in his basement.
Cross graduated in Medicine in 1892, in Rio de Janeiro. During the course, he published articles related to microbiology, and his course conclusion work had the theme “The microbial transmission through water”. In the late 1800s, the scientist studied microbiology, serum therapy and immunology at the Pasteur Institute, in Paris.
As for Fiocruz, the doctor adopted unprecedented methods to contain illnesses, such as:
the isolation of the sick;
compulsory notification of positive cases;
the capture of vectors (mosquitoes and rats);
disinfection of homes in hotspots.
In 1913, was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL). Two years later, he retired from the Fiocruz board. In the same year, he moved to Petrópolis and subsequently became mayor of that city. Oswaldo Cruz died on February 11, 1917 due to kidney failure. To learn more about this important Brazilian scientist, read: Oswaldo Cruz.
Carlos Chagas
Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas was born on July 9, 1879, in the city of Oliveira, Minas Gerais. In 1897, he entered the Faculty of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro, currently the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). The future doctor's graduation thesis had as its theme the disease malaria and it was called “Hematological Studies in Malaria”. During his research, Chagas began to have contact with Oswaldo Cruz.
In 1905, the doctor from Minas Gerais participated in the national campaign against malaria. For this, Chagas defended the fight against mosquitoes inside houses, disinfecting them by burning pyrethrum. This campaign served as an experiment to fight the disease around the world.
In April 1909, Carlos Chagas discovered a new disease called tamerican ripanosomiasis, also known as Chagas disease.
After the death of Oswaldo Cruz, in 1917, Carlos Chagas took over the board of Fiocruz. Among the highlights of his work was the investigation of epidemics that occurred in rural Brazil. In order to have a place where these evils could be researched, he created the Oswaldo Cruz Hospital in 1918. In 1942, the place was renamed Hospital Evandro Chagas.
During Chagas' management, more specific areas were organized within the then Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, among which: bacteriology, anatomy, zoology and protozoology. Still under the direction of the doctor, the medicines produced in the place started to be commercialized.
Another outstanding action by Fiocruz, during Chagas' command, was the creation of the National Department of Public Health (DNSP), linked to the Ministry of Justice. The department is considered the forerunner in the nationalization of health and sanitation policies in the country.
Carlos Chagas died on November 8, 1934, due to a heart attack of myocardium.
Fiocruz in Brazil
Fiocruz has these 11 technical-scientific units in Rio de Janeiro:
Oswaldo Cruz's house
Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (Ensp)
Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health (ESPJV)
Institute of Science and Technology in Biomodels (ICTB)
Institute of Scientific and Technological Communication and Information in Health (Icict)
Institute of Technology in Pharmaceuticals (Farmanguinhos)
Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos)
National Institute of Quality Control in Health (INCQS)
Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI)
Fernandes Figueira National Institute of Women's, Child and Adolescent Health (IFF)
Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC)
There are also 10 more units and offices in the states of:
Amazons
Bahia
Ceará
Mato Grosso do Sul
Minas Gerais
Paraná
Pernambuco
Piauí
Rondônia
Federal District
The foundation also has a unit in Maputo, in the capital of the Mozambique.
![Fiocruz has a unit in Salvador, capital of Bahia. [2]](/f/fdfa31a3e6a1e15eb47d9cece32a2a66.jpg)
Fiocruz Highlights
With more than one hundred years of work in favor of Brazilian health, Fiocruz collects several activities that have gained prominence. Check out some:
1911: the then Instituto Oswaldo Cruz won a diploma of honor at the International Exhibition of Hygiene and Demography in Dresden, Germany, for the discovery of Chagas disease.
1937: the Brazilian vaccine against yellow fever produced at Fiocruz was adopted. According to data from the foundation, currently 80% of vaccines against this disease are produced at the foundation.
1970: the National School of Public Health (ENSP) was incorporated into Fiocruz. In its rooms, the first projects that would lead to the implementation of the SUS were outlined.
1970: the military regime revoked the political rights of Fiocruz scientists. The episode became known as Massacre de Maguinhos.
1976: Bio-Manguinhos — the largest production center for vaccines and kits and reagents for laboratory diagnosis of infectious and parasitic diseases in Latin America — and Farmanguinhos were created.
1987: Fiocruz teams isolated, for the first time in Brazil, the HIV virus, which causes the AIDS. After this episode, the foundation joined the International Network of Laboratories for the Isolation and Characterization of HIV-1, coordinated by the World AIDS Program, of the World Health Organization (WHO).
2006: Fiocruz was awarded the World Prize for Excellence in Public Health, granted by the largest and most important public health institution in the world, the World Federation of Health Associations Public. That same year, the foundation won the Institutional Scientific Merit Order, the most important honor awarded annually by the federal government.
2006: Fiocruz performed the sequencing of the genome of the BCG vaccine, in conjunction with the Ataulpho de Paiva Foundation.
Vaccines
Check out some vaccines that Fiocruz has already produced:
Yellow fever: 1937
Meningitis A and C: 1970s
Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib): 1999
DTP and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib): 2001
triple viral: 2003
human rotavirus: 2008
10-valent Pneumococcal: 2010
Inactivated poliomyelitis (VIP): 2012
viral tetravalent: 2013
Also access: 5 myths about vaccines
Bio-Manguinhos
The Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos) was founded in 1976, on the Fiocruz campus. This is the unit that carries out research, innovations and technological developments to produce vaccines and reagents for all of Brazil.
Located in Bio-Manguinhos, the Vaccine Technological Complex (CTV) operates in the production of vaccines to meet the schedule established by the Ministry of Health. The complex, one of the largest centers in the Latin America, provides the yellow fever vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Bio-Manguinhos vaccines are distributed to all Brazilians for free. In 2020, more than 111 million doses of vaccines were delivered.
According to Fiocruz, vaccines are only produced by Bio-Manguinhos; the institute does not apply immunizing agents. For this, there is the Reference Center for Special Immunologicals (Crie), specialized in the application of vaccines. Crie is located at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Farmanguinhos
Created in 1976, the Institute of Technology in Pharmaceuticals (Farmanguinhos) from Fiocruz operates in research, production, innovation and technological development of medicines. In addition, the institute aims to expand Brazilians' access to public health.
Farmanguinhos is the largest official pharmaceutical laboratory linked to the Ministry of Health. In all, the institute manufactures about 33 types of medication, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, anti-infective, anti-ulcer, analgesic, for endemic diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.
Antiretrovirals are also produced to treat the AIDS and viral hepatitis and medicines for the Cardiovascular system it's the ssystem noherbs çenter.
Every year, Farmanguinhos produces more than 2.5 billion units of medicines, which are distributed to the population through the SUS.
Coronavirus
In 2020, Fiocruz trained health professionals from Brazil and Latin America to carry out the laboratory diagnosis of the coronavirus (Covid-19). That same year, the foundation signed a partnership with the University of Oxford, in England, and the AstraZeneca laboratory, also English, to produce the vaccine for this disease in Brazil.
On January 17, 2021, the Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved the emergency use of this vaccine. Fiocruz data indicate that 210.4 million doses are expected to be delivered to the population in 2021, through the SUS National Immunization Program.
In the short term, the vaccine will also be produced in Brazil by researchers at the Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals (Bio-Manguinhos).
Fiocruz Architecture
Oswaldo Cruz, who studied in the late 1800s at the Pasteur Institute in France, was inspired by the architecture of this French organization and drew a picture of how he imagined a similar institute in the Brazil. Fiocruz was designed by Portuguese architect Luiz Moraes Junior and built between the years 1905 and 1918.
Inspired by Hispanic-Muslim art, the Friocruz Castle, also called the Moorish Pavilion or Palácio das Ciências, has Portuguese tiles and mosaics in Arabic tapestry. The highlight goes to an octagonal cupola made of copper.
Due to the greatness of the architectural project in the neo-moorish style, the castle was listed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) in 1981. The space houses the administrative part of the foundation.
Fiocruz Castle can be visited and is part of the tour offered by the Museum of Life, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC/Fiocruz).
Image credit
[1] Account / commons
[2] Joa Souza / Shutterstock
By Silvia Tancredi
Journalist
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/curiosidades/fundacao-oswaldo-cruz-fiocruz.htm