“…Their objective was to assess the economic potential of rivers and to inventory the epidemiological and socioeconomic conditions in the Amazon and in Brazil's Northeast and Central-West. According to the physicians and scientists who took part in these voyages and expeditions-Oswaldo Cruz, Carlos Chagas, Arthur Neiva, and Belisário Penna, among others-the endemic diseases of the sertão were the biggest hindrance to the construction of Brazil's nationhood and the achievement of progress, thereby making sanitation campaigns and works an imperative (Castro-Santos, 1985, 1987Lima e Hochman, 1996;Hochman, 1998;Lima, 1999Lima, , 2009Kropf, 2009aKropf, , 2009bSá, 2009).…”