Medical reform in colonial Taiwan (China)

This thesis focuses on medical reform and public health changes in colonial Taiwan (1895–1945). One goal of this study is to reveal the development of medical reform in colonial Taiwan. The second goal is to understand Taiwan's experience in the international diffusion of medical knowledge. Finally, the third goal is to analyze the possible factors that shaped medical reform and to reassess Japanese colonialism.; In the field of medicine, this study focused on the impact of modern Japanese medicine on medical practice in Taiwan. During the colonial era (1895–1945), two related processes—the creation of medical resources and the establishment of new medical system—with three components (preventive medicine, laboratory, and new medical institutions) formed the medical reform in Taiwan. It is also useful to think of medical reform in colonial Taiwan as a process that took place in various stages. In the early stage between the 1910s and 1920s, medical and hygiene measures were directed at infectious and communicable diseases. In the 1930s, Taiwan entered its second stage of medical reform. The reform in this period showed a health transition that encompassed a broader range of the life cycle, a multiplicity of diseases with various causes, and less effective social and technological interventions. Here the goal was incrementally to add health and increase life expectancy to each age group.; From a political perspective, colonialism was the most important political issue. The colonial government believed in the supremacy of a colonial government able to effectively implement reformatory measures, ruthlessly if necessary. The implementation occurred at great expense of political liberty and human lives before the 1920s. However, after the late 1920s, the instruments of medical reform depended more on the development of clinical medicine than on social mobilization and governmental intervention.; Finally, an examination of medical reform in colonial Taiwan points to the importance of understanding what kind of reform was taking place and how to identify changes in this reform. This study has underscored the importance of many developmental factors beyond the increase of medical facilities that profoundly influenced the health of the colonial population.