Egypt's Other Wars : Epidemics and the Politics of Public Health

Three devastating epidemics swept Egypt in the 1940s, killing more people than all the wars Egypt has fought in the 20th century. This book reconstructs the nation's fight against malaria, relapsing fever, and cholera and explores the unique combination of forces that placed public health on the national political agenda for the first time. Egypt in the 1940s was in the throes of a nationalist upheaval. Nationalists of all political ideologies attributed the severe epidemics that the country was experiencing to Egypt's status as an under-developed and colonized nation. The epidemics were therefore viewed for the first time as not only a public health crisis but also a political problem that called for political solutions. The author's research, using previously untapped archival material and Arabic-language sources, delves into this little-known yet important part of modern Egyptian history. The author re-creates the period between 1942 and 1952 in which a combination of public and private initiative, of government and volunteer workers, of domestic and international expertise, and of open political competition and popular struggle ultimately proved successful in putting an end to the epidemics and enacting public health reforms. The author clearly illustrates that the contenders for power in Egypt during this period sought to win favor through their efforts in the public health wars and their support of public health reform. The author shares the many insights into the political struggles and popular attitudes toward public health reforms that she has gained, in part, from the lively, expressive, and relatively uncensored Egyptian press of the 1940s. The book includes two dozen fascinating and telling photographs and political cartoons from the period.