Farewell to the God of Plague

Chairman Mao's Campaign to Deworm China

Datos Bibliográficos

ID19977960
AutoresMiriam Gross (autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Páginas357
Fecha de publicación2016-01-19
Open AccessNo
TipoBOOK
RevistaFarewell to the god of plague (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/california/9780520288836.001.0001
OpenAlexW4235995264
Open LibraryOL27198535M
ISBN9780520288836
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15

Few public-health paradigms are as important or enduring as the Maoist primary-health-care medical model. It not only inspired the World Health Organization's policies toward primary health care but also is being revitalized to address current Chinese health crises, such as SARS. The book reassesses this celebrated model through the lens of one of Mao's most famous health campaigns, the fight against snail fever, a parasitic disease. Using newly available archives, the book documents how economic, political, and cultural realities led to grassroots resistance, overturning the prior campaign narrative of popular patriotic support. The campaign nonetheless triumphed, but not because of its touted mass prevention campaign. Instead, success came from its unacknowledged treatment arm, carried out by rural educated youth with the help of well-trained urban physicians banished to the countryside. The book suggests that the whole relationship between science and political control during the ostensibly antiscientific Maoist era needs reconsideration. It discovers that "grassroots science" not only trained "red and expert" youth to carry out medical and organizational roles in mass campaigns but also aided regime legitimation and facilitated party control in rural areas. This scientifically based method of political consolidation was amazingly effective, helping public-health campaigns achieve some of their most hated mandates, such as forcing people to chase after miniscule snails

Ancient history · Plague (disease) · Chinese history and philosophy · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · History of Science and Medicine · Medicine · Philosophy · Virology · 20th century · Bilharziose · china · Health Policy · Landbevölkerung · Medical care · Medical policy · Medizinische Versorgung · Prävention · Prevention · Preventive Health Services · Schistosomiasis · Therapy · Treatment