British Research On The Prevention And Treatment Of Sleeping Sickness In Uganda In The Early 20th Century (1901-1910)

In recent years,social issues such as how to deal with diseases and protect human health have become the focus of attention at home and abroad,and medical history research based on this concern has also flourished in the domestic historical circles in the past ten years.Among the many research aspects of medical history,colonial medical history has been an important theme.The practice of medicine can serve as a lens through which to view colonialist actions and as a way of critiquing colonialism.By observing and sorting out the medical activities and behaviors in colonies during modern times,we can get a glimpse of the interactive relationship between the colonies and the metropolitan country,and between the colonies,thereby improving the research of colonial historiography and highlighting the pratical cocern of learning from the past.At the end of the 19 th century,with the completion of the partition of the African continent by the European powers,Western countries attempted to obtain greater benefits in their colonies.However,the rampant African tropical diseases became a huge obstacle that the colonial countries did not expect.During this period,they responded to the test of the disease with a more active attitude.This dissertation takes the epidemic of sleeping sickness in Uganda at the beginning of the 20 th century as a starting point,examines the British participation in disease prevention and control in the colonies and on the international stage.It analyzes how the British measures have affected Uganda’s health,and explores the relationship between Britain and other colonial powers in the context of the spread of the disease.This dissertation intends to discuss the prevention and treatment of sleeping sickness in Uganda by Britain in the early 20 th century from three parts.The first part mainly discusses the pathology of sleeping sickness,its history in West Africa and its outbreak in Uganda.Although sleeping sickness has a history of hundreds of years in West Africa,it has occurred in a small range and has not caused mass deaths.The prevalence of sleeping sickness in Uganda in the early 20 th century was inseparable from the dual factors of nature and society.First,the introduction of Congo sleeping sickness was the direct cause of the sudden emergence of the disease in Uganda.Second,the religious conflicts and economic expansion of colonialism destroyed Uganda’s original ecological balance,making it more vulnerable to the ravages of sleeping sickness which was a foreign disease before.In addition,the reduction in precipitation created a suitable environment for the vector to be active,which also made the occurrence of the disease possible.Under the influence of the above factors,sleeping sickness has also changed from an endemic disease to an epidemic disease,and finally caused serious harm to many regions in Uganda.The second part is the main part of the dissertation,including the second,third and fourth chapters.The second chapter mainly discusses the investigation and research on sleeping sickness in Uganda by British scientific community.Tropical medicine,which was independent and vigorous at that time,ushered in an opportunity for development due to the prevalence of diseases,and quickly became a powerful reliance for colonial countries to solve sleeping sickness.The Royal Society sent a scientific expedition team composed of tropical medicine professionals to Uganda to carry out experiments and investigations on the etiology,pathology,clinical manifestations,and epidemic range of sleeping sickness.Their breakthroughs unraveled the mystery of the cause of sleeping sickness,and became the main force of knowledge production and dissemination.At the same time,the strong dissemination of relevant knowledge also obscured the local experience and tradition of treating sleeping sickness in Africa.Scientists who are keen on the study of the etiology and pathology of sleeping sickness did not apply their academic achievements to the prevention and treatment of the disease in the first place,so the colonial authorities who faced the epidemic of sleeping sickness took on this important task.The third chapter mainly narrates the countermeasures carried out by the British colonial authorities.The early Sadler government was limited by the central government and could only do some passive defense and protection,which led to the further spread of sleeping sickness in Uganda.The Bell government adopted a series of radical and systematic measures,concluding relocating the population in the lake area,dividing the level of shrub clearance in the lake area,supervising labor health,setting up isolation camps,and improving medical facilities and services.Although these measures have curbed the spread of the disease,they have also damaged the local environment and intensified conflict between the colony and the metropolitan country.The fourth chapter discusses the international consultation and cooperation carried out by the Britain based on the results of the Bell government’s prevention and control.Britain tried to achieve a transnational control of the disease in the 1907 International Sleeping Sickness Conference,and seized a leading position in it.After this setback,Britain turned to a bilateral partnership with Germany.The third part is the author’s evaluation on the British prevention and treatment of sleeping sickness in Uganda in the early 20 th century.Firstly,the role and influence of Britain on the prevention and treatment of sleeping sickness in Uganda are explained from multiple perspectives.One is they revealed the mystery of the pathogenic pathology of sleeping sickness itself,the other is they successfully tried a prevention and treatment plan in Uganda,which reduces the number of infections and deaths of sleeping sickness,which has become a classic case of colonial medical intervention,and the third is they have opened up new ideas for future cooperation in the international health field.Secondly,dig deep into the colonial connotation under the British prevention and control behavior.Coloniality not only leads to unsatisfactory prevention and control effects in the future,but also lays hidden dangers for the re-epidemic of sleeping sickness.The British history of sleeping sickness prevention and treatment in Uganda once again revealed the legacy of colonialism behind the low health level in Africa.