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502 Rev Assoc Med Bras 2014; 60(6):502-504
Homage
Adib Jatene, an immense legacy to Brazilian medicine
November 14, 2014, will be marked forever in the history
of Brazil as the day that the national medicine lost one
of its greatest references: cardiologist Adib Jatene.
Born in Xapuri, Acre, son of a Lebanese rubber tap-
per, he wrote one of the finest chapters in the history of
Brazilian medicine. With a medical degree from Univer-
sity of São Paulo’s Faculty of Medicine (FMUSP), awar-
ded in 1953, where he also became professor emeritus, he
accumulated positions at Hospital do Coração (HCor)
and Instituto Dante Pazzanese, two national references
in cardiology.
Jatene was a pioneer of heart surgery in the country.
In addition to having created the first artificial lung-
-heart machine at Hospital das Clínicas, in the 1950s,
he was responsible for the first bypass surgery in Bra-
zil in 1968. His contributions in favor of techniques
for the development of cardiology put his name among
the most respected cardiac surgeons in the world. One
of the procedures developed by him to correct trans-
posed arteries in neonates became known worldwide
as “Jatene’s surgery”, adding up to an impressive his-
tory of more than 20,000 operations and nearly 700
scientific papers published in the national and inter-
national literature as author or co-author. One of them,
related to the intracavitary correction technique and
published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular
Surgery, reached, in the medical literature only, over
400 citations.
Politics
Even without joining any political party, Jatene took
part on several occasions in the national political sce-
ne. He was state secretary of health in São Paulo,
between 1979 and 1982, and twice minister of health
in the administrations of Fernando Collor, for eight
months, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, from 1995
to 1996. It was in this last administration that he crea-
ted the Provisional Contribution on Financial Tran-
sactions (CPMF), a tax intended solely to fund the na-
tional health sector. Ministry of Health officials
remember one of his favorite habits in those days: en-
ter the cafeteria queue or have breakfast with servers,
seeking to gather opinions on our health system. Un-
motivated, he left the ministry when he realized that
the government started to divert health budget funds
collected through the tax he envisioned.
Last year, he returned to the government to chair a
committee of experts to create a project aiming at chan-
ges in medical education. He walked away again after the
Dilma Roussef administration launched, without any
prior discussion, the More Doctors program. His main
concerns in terms of national public health were proper
medical education, health financing and the Family Health
program, which was highlighted in a recent article pub-
lished in Folha de S.Paulo newspaper: “Physicians must be
experts in people,” he wrote.
The Journal of the Brazilian Medical Association (Ramb)
honors Professor Adib Jatene in recognition of his exam-
ple as physician and public figure, his dedication to me-
dicine, and unwavering integrity throughout his life. We
are certain that this legacy will remain, inspiring profes-
sionals to defend medicine with honor, ethics and dig-
nity, as he never gave up doing.
Testimonials
“The Brazilian Medical Association mourns the passing
of Prof. Dr. Adib Domingos Jatene, who worked hard for
the sake of medicine and health. Medical science loses
one of its icons, who has inspired generations. May the
pain of loss be comforted by the important legacy he left
as a doctor, teacher, researcher and citizen.”
Florentino Cardoso, president of the Brazilian Medical
Association.
“Permanent reason for inspiration for all those around him,
Jatene managed to bring together the most absolute accu-
racy inmedical procedures and a humane treatment, always
maintaining a close relationship with each one of his pa-
tients. His ethical and fair stance was, and will be, a beacon
shedding light on all medicine. I owe much of my career to
him, who always had a friendly and encouraging word to
offer. Working for years with him in the operating roomand
ICUwas a lesson I will never forget. To be the director of the
Faculty of Medicine at University of São Paulo, where Jate-
ne received his medical degree, and to be in the position he
held with both talent and dedication, fills me with pride and
responsibility. I must alsomention his career as an agent of
public life, and key figure in the implementation of the Uni-
fied Health System, benefiting millions of patients. Brazil
loses one of its most brilliant public figures.”
José Otavio Costa Auler Junior , director of the Univer-
sity of São Paulo’s Faculty of Medicine.