Evaluation of the international medical and sanitary work of imperial powers has ranged from adulation for their contribution to improvements in medical research, diplomatic relations, diffusion of technology, disease eradication, public health organization, and health status to skepticism about the actual impact of activities in settings where such transformations were already occurring to contempt for the promotion of capitalist medicine and public health that at once commodified health, targeted military and economic priorities rather than humanistic ones, generated medical dependency, recreated power differences within the health sector, favored cure over prevention, advanced technological rather than social measures, and promoted values that denigrated local approaches to health improvement. This paper will analyze the field of international health from a historical perspective, exploring the late 19th and early 20th century origins of the institutions, actors, practices, and beliefs that have continued resonance and relevance in the contemporary context.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to: recognoze many of the political, military,social, and economic forces that shaped the origins of international health
Keywords: History, International Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.