20世纪初英属西非疟疾的理论探索及其影响研究

Theoretical Exploration of Malaria and Its Influence in British West Africa at the Beginning of the 20th Century

疟疾是非洲地区最常见的热带疾病之一,它在英国征服西非的过程中给英国殖民者带来了致命威胁。长期以来,受“热病”说和“瘴气”说等医学理论的影响,英国医学界对疟疾的理论认识是混乱的。19世纪80年代后,随着热带医学的发展,英国医学界对疟疾的本质及其传播机制的认识逐渐科学化,这也为英国医生寻找预防疟疾的有效方法提供了可能。然而,在科学的医学理论的引导下,20世纪初英国医学界对英属西非殖民地疟疾的理论探索工作,却催生出了一种以“种族隔离”为主要特征的公共卫生政策,这也进一步加剧了英属西非殖民地的内部分化和种族对立。英国医学界对于疟疾的理论探索实际上也成为推动英属西非殖民进程的不自觉的历史工具。

Malaria has been one of the most common tropical diseases in Africa.It posed a deadly threat to British colonists during the British conquest of West Africa.For a long time,under the influence of medical theories such as the"Fever"theory and the"Miasma"theory,the British medical community did not have a clear understanding of malaria.After the 1880 s,with the development of tropical medicine,the British medical community gradually learned the nature of malaria and its transmission mechanism more scientifically,which increased the possibility for British doctors to find effective ways to guard against the disease.However,with the guidance of the so-called"scientific theory,the community’s study of malaria in the early 20 th century gave birth to a public health policy of"Segregation".This further aggravated the colony’s internal division and racial conflicts.As a result,the theoretical exploration of the British medical community in fact served the colonial agenda in British West Africa.