Tropical Medicine and Environment in Perspective

Reconstituting the Puzzle of the Eradication of Sleeping Sickness on Principe Island, in 1914

Authors

  • Isabel Amaral Universidade Nova de lisboa, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21664/2238-8869.2018v7i2.p64-82

Keywords:

Tropical Medicine, Environment, Sleeping Sickness, Anthropocene

Abstract

This article aims at reflecting on the relationship between tropical medicine and the environment, when analyzed in the light of the impact of Portuguese public health policies, in the context of the European imperialism of the 20th century, using as a case study the process that led to the eradication of sleeping sickness, in the Príncipe Island, 1914. Using the theoretical framework of the history of tropical medicine, we will reflect on the effects of a sanitary mandate of the lato sensu environment, which characterized the path of the Portuguese medical community, in the eradication of the disease: the political, biological and human environment. In this way we intend not only to contribute to a broader discussion on epidemiology and the environment, in the early 20th century in Africa, but also, and responding to the questions of our time, leave open a set of questions about human well-being, habitats of glossines and trypanosomes. In short ... on the meaning of diseases ecology, in global development and Anthropocene agenda.

Author Biography

Isabel Amaral, Universidade Nova de lisboa, Portugal

Doutorado em Curso de História e Filosofia da Ciência (FCT) pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Portugal. Docente na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, FCT/UNL, Portugal.

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Published

2018-08-30

How to Cite

AMARAL, Isabel. Tropical Medicine and Environment in Perspective: Reconstituting the Puzzle of the Eradication of Sleeping Sickness on Principe Island, in 1914. Fronteiras - Journal of Social, Technological and Environmental Science, [S. l.], v. 7, n. 2, p. 64–82, 2018. DOI: 10.21664/2238-8869.2018v7i2.p64-82. Disponível em: https://revistas2.unievangelica.edu.br/index.php/fronteiras/article/view/2960. Acesso em: 4 dec. 2024.

Issue

Section

Dossier - Environment, health and human welfare