This brief recollection aims to introduce the historical development of the Brazilian National Health Care System to a larger audience.1

A military coup d’état in 1964 interrupted the fledgling democratic development in Brazil that began with the end of the Vargas dictatorship in 1945. Unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the new regime through guerilla warfare gave way, during the 1970s, to the slow reorganisation of civil society.

Health became a focal point for the convergence of progressive forces, especially in the postgraduate programmes in public health that began to flourish in the country. The confluence of those in academia, health managers and providers with affinity (if not affiliation) with …