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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:A Tool of Empire: The British Medical Establishment in Lagos, 1861-1905
Author:Brown, Spencer H.ISNI
Year:2004
Periodical:International Journal of African Historical Studies
Volume:37
Issue:2
Pages:309-343
Language:English
Geographic terms:Nigeria
Great Britain
Subjects:colonialism
imperialism
medical history
History and Exploration
Health and Nutrition
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/4129011
Abstract:The author examines the practice of colonial medicine in Lagos, Nigeria, from 1861 to 1905. Throughout, he places this practice within the broader context of European medicine in the British metropole, specifically England and Wales. Finally, he considers the degree to which the colonial medicine practised in Lagos through 1905 was a tool of empire. The author argues that colonial medicine in Lagos did a respectable job of promoting the health of not just European captains and seamen, but of many Africans living in or visiting Lagos. The government allocated large sums of money to the medical establishment, especially from the 1880s on. The new colonial hospital of the 1890s had four pavilion wards reserved for Africans and only one for Europeans. The number of beds per thousand of population, for both old and new hospitals, compares well with that for voluntary hospitals in England and Wales. The main hospital and the contagious diseases hospital were always open to all - regardless of race - without charge, and colonial surgeons were able to hold the death rate within a range similar to that of British doctors in the metropole. Colonial medicine certainly helped make it possible for European colonial officials, merchant officers, and seamen to survive in Lagos, thus promoting imperialism in the commercial sense. Colonial medicine was flawed and made mistakes that hurt local people, but these were usually accidental and unintentional. Its use as a tool in preserving European lives was professionally, not ideologically, motivated - as was its use in the preservation of African lives. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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