We protect your health through science
National Library of Health Sciences
The present day Biblioteca Nacional de Ciencias de la Salud (National Library of Health Sciences) dates back to 1994, when, coinciding with the 70th Anniversary of the Escuela Nacional de Sanidad (National School of Public Health), it was constituted as the Centralized Document Processing Unit for all departments of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III.
It was officially declared a National Centre on 2 August 1996 (Royal Decree 1893/1996), reporting organically and functionally to the Institute's Escuela Nacional de Sanidad. With effect from from 28 July 2000 (Royal Decree 809/2000), it reported to the Sub-DirectorateGeneral of Teaching Planning and Coordination, whose powers include the coordination of the Escuela Nacional de Sanidad and the Biblioteca Nacional de Ciencias de la Salud, which is responsible for the management and coordination of all the Institute's libraries.
The Sub-Directorate General for Cooperative Research Centres and Networks took over the management of the Biblioteca Nacional de Ciencias de la Salud from May 2005 (Royal Decree 590/2005) . Currently the Director of the Library is Cristina Bojo Canales.
Museum of Health and Public Hygiene
The development of the Museum of Health and Public Hygiene began in 1995 and it is a centre which is unique in its speciality in Spain.
It is located in Pavilion 14 on the Chamartín campus, in the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, where the laboratories of the Hospital Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas (known as Hospital del Rey) used to be.
Its objective is to manage the collections of objects, books and documents that reflect the most significant aspects of the history and development of public health in our country, with a view to conserving them and making them more widely available. In this way it is hoped that research in this field will be promoted, making specialised technical support available to researchers, teachers and specialists that need it,
With the aim of raising the profile of this collection, on 19 July 2010, an agreement was signed with the Real Academia Nacional de Medicina, with a view to making resources mutually available, through cooperation in the organisation of permanent and temporary exhibitions dealing with the theme of public health.