The Politics of Disease Control: Sleeping Sickness in Eastern Africa, 1890-1920

November 10, 2020 -
6:00pm to 7:15pm

Abstract: When British and German colonial practices disrupted the economies and ecosystems of the Great Lakes region of East Africa around 1900, an epidemic of invariably fatal African Trypanosomiasis ("sleeping sickness") rapidly spread. How Africans had faced challenging times in the past shaped whether and how they cooperated with the Europeans' successful research campaigns to identify a cause, and the vain search for a cure. Colonial narratives continue to affect modern research agendas into tropical diseases. Understanding local cultural factors will always improve public health movements.

Dr. Webel is the author of The Politics of Disease Control: Sleeping Sickness in Eastern Africa, 1890-1920 (New African Histories Series, Ohio University Press, 2019).

The Zoom link for the lecture will be available at the Society’s website in advance of the lecture.

The Sylvan E. Stool Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the C.F. Reynolds Medical History Society

Location and Address

Online