2000/01/01 by Michael Jones · 1 citation
Business, Management and Accounting · Medicine · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology #Travel-related health issues #Vibrio bacteria research studies #Ceylon #Colonialism #Malaria #Government (linguistics) #Population #Constitution #Economic growth #Political science #Medicine #History #Ancient history #Law #Environmental health #Economics
paper · doi:10.1093/shm/13.1.87
openalex publication_date 2000/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In 1934-35 Ceylon suffered a major malaria epidemic which affected one and a half million people out of a population of five and a half million. This paper will first examine the orgins and course of the epidemic but the main focus is on the measures the authorities adopted to deal with the disaster. In 1931 Ceylon had attained 'home rule' under the Donoughmore Constitution. The epidemic was a first and major test of the efficacy of the new government. Examining the responses of the imperial government, the colonial government and the colonial medical services to this medical emergency establishes that the epidemic was a turning point in the health services of Ceylon and thus Sri Lanka, that the legacy of colonial medicine is essentially mixed and that the complexity and contradictory nature of colonial medicine can only be understood by detailed contextual research.