Western Medicine And Public Health In Colonial Bombay 1845 1895

The study examines the twin issues of Western medicine and public health in Bombay during the years 1845 1895. The work is the first to explore in detail the complex interrelationship between government, municipality and individual philanthropists over the issues of Western medicine and public health measures.

This book focuses on some aspects of public health in the first three decades of the twentieth-century in Bombay Presidency.

This book is a study of aspects of public health in Bombay Presidency from 1896 to 1930, and is asked upon extensive primary data. It charts both the changes in the colonial plague policy, from the deadly epidemic of 1896 to the frequent epidemics that appeared in the 1900s, as well as the changes in Indian responses to that policy in different regions of the Presidency. Through a survey of unique local initiatives by activist health officials, civic leaders, and Indian doctors, efforts to bring sanitary consciousness into the public sphere, to promote preventive measures, and to tackle public health challenges like tuberculosis become apparent. The twentieth century witnessed an increasing acceptance of the idea of hospitalization and thus gave rise to the expansion of hospital facilities. This work therefore elucidates these developments through an analysis of both the funding of these expanding institutions and the classification system of admissions, as well as by providing a detailed review of maternity and mission hospitals. With these issues in mind, this work examines a range of perceptions including those of British and Indian physicians regarding the causes of high maternal and infant mortality and their suggestions to tackle it, as well as semi-official and non-official efforts to promote maternal and infant welfare. Specifically, issues such as the health of female mill workers, and the training of nurses, dais, and midwives is addressed. There was a close link between the attempts to improve the health of women and the growing number of female Indian doctors. Some of the career paths of these doctors, including their activities in the All India Women's Conference, the Association of Medical Women in India, and the National Planning Committee, are traced in this work. Through such analyses, the relative place of Western and Indian medicine in the Presidency can also be explored to reveal the manifold and complex dimensions of this encounter. This study will contribute to an understanding of the all India public health scenario of the pre-independence years, and will be of interest to scholars of history, sociology, community health, gender studies, and South Asian studies, as well as to health workers and NGOs.

This work focuses on the major health and sanitation problems of the nineteenth century: the health of the European poor, battling alcoholism and venereal diseases; the views of Indian men and women doctors, about diseases, curatives and birthing practices; and Florence Nightingale's interest in the Presidency, particularly her advocacy of village sanitation. Besides, the contributions of doctors B.K. Bhatwadekar and N.H. Choksy, to public health, through an analysis of their writings, are also explored in this monograph. The themes of the early twentieth century which emerge in this work are the review of sanitary improvements in Urbs Prima in Indis, regulations imposed on pilgrims passing through Bombay and at pilgrim sites, and the state of sanitation and disease control in the villages and towns. The book also revisits an important episode, the experience of Bombay in coping with the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, based on contemporary newspaper reports, and on reports of voluntary agencies, which provided relief.

After years of neglect the last decade has witnessed a surge of interest in the medical history of India under colonial rule. This is the first major study of public health in British India. It covers many previously unresearched areas such as European attitudes towards India and its inhabitants, and the way in which these were reflected in medical literature and medical policy; the fate of public health at local level under Indian control; and the effects of quarantine on colonial trade and the pilgrimage to Mecca. The book places medicine within the context of debates about the government of India, and relations between rulers and ruled. In emphasising the active role of the indigenous population, and in its range of material, it differs significantly from most other work conducted in this subject area.

Since the 1980s there has been a continual engagement with the history and the place of western medicine in colonial settings and non-western societies. In relation to South Asia, research on the role of medicine has focussed primarily on regions under direct British administration. This book looks at the ‘princely states’ that made up about two fifths of the subcontinent. Two comparatively large states, Mysore and Travancore – usually considered as ‘progressive’ and ‘enlightened’ – and some of the princely states of Orissa – often described as ‘backward’ and ‘despotic’ – have been selected for analysis. The authors map developments in public health and psychiatry, the emergence of specialised medical institutions, the influence of western medicine on indigenous medical communities and their patients and the interaction between them. Exploring contentious issues currently debated in the existing scholarship on medicine in British India and other colonies, this book covers the ‘indigenisation’ of health services; the inter-relationship of colonial and indigenous paradigms of medical practice; the impact of specific political and administrative events and changes on health policies. The book also analyses British medical policies and the Indian reactions and initiatives they evoked in different Indian states. It offers new insights into the interplay of local adaptations with global exchanges between different national schools of thought in the formation of what is often vaguely, and all too simply, referred to as 'western' or 'colonial' medicine. A pioneering study of health and medicine in the princely states of India, it provides a balanced appraisal of the role of medicine during the colonial era. It will be of interest to students and academics studying South Asian and imperial and commonwealth history; the history of medicine; the sociology of health and healing; and medical anthropology, social policy, public health, and international politics.

This book gives a flavour of the Indian response to modern science by analysing the lives and careers of four scientifically influential personalities in Bengal. His analysis of the careers of two scientists, J. C. Bose and P. C. Ray, and two institution builders, Mahendralal Sircar and Asutosh Mookerjee, brings to light the issues related to science at a time of colonialism and nationalism. Scientists often had to depend on British institutions for legitimation and funding, while also supporting the nationalist cause for greater autonomy. One of the central claims of this book is that the protagonists aimed to contribute to a modern world science, one based on a strong sense of universalism. They did not aim to construct any alternative sciences, though they did express and apply their work by drawing on their cultural heritage. This makes Science and National Consciousness a work of particular relevance today, when a homogenous, instrumentalist and totally Western conception of science is being globally accepted.

Was Western medicine a positive benefit of colonialism or one of its agents of oppression? This question has prompted a vigorous historical and political debate and is explored here in the context of the 'model' British colony of Ceylon. In this study, Margaret Jones emphasises the need for both a broad perspective and a more complex analysis. Colonial medicine is critiqued not merelyu in the political and economic context of imperialism but also against the background of human needs and rights. Her research is underscored by a detailed analysis of public health measures and services in Ceylon. One of its key findings is the accommodation achieved between Western and indigenous medicine. Throughout this work, Jones provides nuanced readings of the categories of colonised and coloniser, as well as the concept of colonial medicine. Health Policy in Britain's Model Colony provides an understanding of historical trends while simultaneously avoiding generalisations that subsume events and actions. Written in a compelling and lucid style, it is a path-breaking contribution to the history of medicine.