Mario Pinotti (21 January 1894 – 3 March 1972) was a Brazilian medic and sanitarist. As director of the Brazilian National Malaria Service, Maio Pinotti pioneered chloroquinized salt in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

during the early 1950s in order to eradicate

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

Biography

Mario Pinotti was born in Brotas,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

state, in 1894 to Rafael Vitório Pinotti and Precilda Bossel Pinotti. Mario attended the pharmacy school at

Ouro Preto Ouro Preto (, ''Black Gold''), formerly Vila Rica (, ''Rich Village''), is a city in and former capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and designated a World Herit ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

, and graduated in 1918 at the National College of Medicine (Faculdade Nacional de Medicina), at the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in th ...

. After graduation, Mario Pinotti was appointed as rural sanitary inspector of the National Department of Public Health in 1919. In 1922 he assumed as mayor of

Nova Iguaçu Nova Iguaçu (, locally: or , ''New Iguaçu'') is a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil. Location The city is named after the Iguaçu River that runs through it and empties into Guanabara Bay (not to be confused with the Iguaçu R ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

. Back to the National Health Department, Pinotti worked in the campaign against

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

from 1928 to 1931. Mario Pinotti married Margarida Pinotti, and they had two children.

Pinotti's method

During the 1940s, there were four to six million

cases a year among 45 million Brazilians, with over half of cases occurring outside of the

Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boli ...

. The São Paulo State Antimalarial Service, the Special Public Health Service in the Amazon (SESP) and the National Malaria Service (SNM) were the three Brazilian organizations involved in malaria control. The SNM was created in 1941 and was run by Mario Pinotti starting in 1942. In 1956, Pinotti became the director of the newly created National Department for Rural Endemic Diseases, a department in the Ministry of Health that centralized public health activities against many endemic diseases including malaria,

and Chagas disease. In response to the 1955 WHO establishment of the Global Malaria Eradication Program, in 1957 Pinotti changed the National Malaria Service into the Malaria Eradication Campaign (CEM). Pinotti introduced the strategy of putting

chloroquine Chloroquine is a medication primarily used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to its effects. Certain types of malaria, resistant strains, and complicated cases typically require different or additional medi ...

into common cooking salt as a way of distributing the drug as a prophylactic on a wide scale. Using either chloroquine or pyrimethamine, Pinotti's medicated salt program proved effective, and became known as "Pinotti's method". After early 1950s trials, Pinotti's salt was widely distributed in Brazil, subsequently, it was employed in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

as well as parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. In the 1960s, the use of chloroquinized salt became to fade due to concern that targeted populations were unevenly protected. In Amazonas State, chloroquinized salt distribution was no longer required, but it was distributed until supplies ran out. Still, chloroquinized salt continued to be used in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

(1967-1971), Guyana (1961-1965) and

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

(1966-1972). Mario Pinotti died in

, on March 3, 1972, at the age of 78.

Recognition

Parasite species ''

Plasmodium pinotti ''Plasmodium pinotti'' is a parasite of the genus ''Plasmodium'' subgenus '' Giovannolaia''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. pinotti'' has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are birds. Description Th ...

'' was named in honor of Dr. Mario Pinotti.

Publications

*''O problema da malária transmitida por Kerteszia no sul do Brasil'' *'' Grande programa de erradicação da malária no Brasil'', 1951 *''Campanha contra a doença de Chagas'', 1956 *''Vida e morte do brasileiro'', 1959

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinotti, Mario Brazilian public health doctors Brazilian politicians Malariologists 1894 births 1972 deaths Health ministers of Brazil People from Brotas