Conquest of the Disease- Devika
Epidemic diseases in the early nineteenth century developed a vocabulary of their own. They were being spoken of as “attacks” or “invasions”, and their successful study by medical sciences was deemed as a “conquest”. This combination of Cholera and military terms insisted on a connection between the disease and military power. The outbreak of Cholera first came at the dawn of the British East Indian Company’s imperialistic expansion in the Indian subcontinent. Though at first, the disease was thought to be a poor man's problem, when it started spreading in troop barracks and took the life of an English officer, the gravity of the situation was understood.
Measures to prevent and control the disease were implemented quickly. Though modern forms of medicine were establishing themselves in England, the study of bodily humor still prevailed in many medical circles. Combined with the knowledge they derived from Ayurvedic and Islamic medical practices that followed similar techniques, the colonists derived new ways of countering the disease. At one point, pills made of opium, black pepper, and asafoetida were circulated in large numbers as “cholera pills”. But these remedies failed to produce any positive results. Indian medical practices were scoffed upon as superstitious and irrational, and more scientific methods of medicine were later applied.
In 1819, and in many accounts from later years, a disdain was noticed among the locals in following the unfamiliar practice of hospitalization. The fear of caste taboos and the need to follow religious observance restricted the people from trusting the process of admitting themselves to the hospital. There was an inclination toward more Indian ways of treatment which commonly was observed by a minister from the religion. And so in order to maintain and contain the disease in the midst of such resistance, the people were coerced to follow colonial medical procedures.
Many detailed investigations into the disease by British scientists proved that sanitation and climatic significance were the main causes of Cholera. In the coming decades, and for over a century, multiple laws on sanitation and hospitalization were passed. In 1864, a sanitary commission was appointed, temporary hospitals were set up in the case of a breakout, and many pilgrim sites, which acted as hubs of diseases were inspected and regulated.
By the early 20th century, cholera mortality in the subcontinent drastically reduced. According to scholarly analysis, there is no definite reason as to why this happened. Some say that it is because of the improvement in living standards, while many counter this claim by showing that the living standards in fact reduced during these years. Others say that it could be due to the reduction in famines, which can be substantiated by the increase in Cholera cases during the 1943-44 Bengal famine. However, later studies have emphasized the increase in sanitation in public spaces and the inoculation of the locals as major factors in curbing the mortality rates.
Comments
Post a Comment