This collection of films and video recordings from the U.S. National Library of Medicine documents the causes, symptoms, prevention, treatment, role of international organizations, public health campaigns, and much more of infectious diseases prominent in tropical environments. Information can be found on malaria in the South Pacific (1943), yellow fever in southern Sudan (1953), and Cholera in Southeast Asia. While many of the videos were designed for soldiers deployed on peacekeeping or other missions, a number of the videos concern other topics, such as Onchocerciasis among the general population in 1960s Ghana, and an argument by a historian from the University of Iowa that American attempts to eradicate yellow fever in pre-1950s Cuba exemplified a thinly veiled colonial plan for the island. Readers interested in the history of epidemiology and public health will find much to admire in this excellent collection of vintage videos.
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