Entre a assistência médica infantil e a regeneração da infância pobre escolar: a atuação do médico Almir Madeira a partir do Instituto de Proteção e Assistência à Infância de Niterói de 1914 a 1929

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the role of Doctor Almir Madeira regarding child health care and the regeneration of poor school children, from the Institute of Child Care and Protection of Niterói (IPAIN). The periodization proposed for the research is organized between 1914 and 1929. This is justified by the fact that we consider the foundation of the Institute of Childhood Protection and Assistance of Niterói (IPAIN), in 1914, as the inaugural framework for the assistance of physician Almir Madeira in favor of the poor childhood of Niterói and 1929 because it was the year in which the doctor distanced himself from the issues related to childhood and the position of Director of IPAIN, beginning to dedicate himself to other professional matters such as the public office of director of the Penitentiary in the State of Rio de Janeiro, a position he held from 1927 to 1930. In the historical context in which Almir Madeira was inserted, we observed debates about poor childcare and the precariousness of food, the proliferation of diseases and the ignorance of hygienic issues. Aspects seen as factors that contributed to child mortality and illiteracy. Almir Madeira, as well as other doctors of his generation, argued that these ills should be strongly countered by scientific initiatives and hygienic education aimed at caring for the child. In order to carry out the research, some questions became important: what were the actions taken by Doctor Almir Madeira in relation to child medical care and the preservation of poor school children in Niterói? What represented the foundation of the Institute of Child Protection and Care of Niterói in what refers to the work of Almir Madeira in the medical field? To carry out the research, we focus on the primary sources available as: papers presented by Almir Madeira in congresses, periodicals, reports where he defended his ideas and / or described his actions in certain projects. To help us in dialogue with the sources we use: Prost (2015 ), Bloch (2001), Le Goff (2003), Sirinelli (2003), Bourdieu (1989), Velho (1987), Marcilio (1998), Camara (2006, 2010, 2011, 2014), Sanglard 2010, 2014), Freire (2011, 2015), Rizzini (2011), Sevcenko (1989), Needell (1997), Ferreira (1997), among others.