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The authors examine the development and consequences of various anti-malaria strategies in Hong Kong, Okinawa, Taiwan, mainland China, and East Asia as a whole. The British and Japanese colonial models of disease control are explored, as is the later American technological model of DDT residue spraying, promoted by the Rockefeller Foundation which played a significant role in the global anti-malaria campaign and the development of public health in Asia.

In the post- World War II period, the use of DDT and international political and economic interests helped to shape anti-malaria policies of the Nationalist government in Taiwan. In mainland China, the Beijing government's mass mobilization and primary health care model of anti-malaria control has given way to new strategies as recent changes in the health care system have affected anti-malaria efforts and public health developments.

This book illuminates an important and largely unexplored dimension of the history of malaria: the interplay of the state (colonial or sovereign), international interests, new medical knowledge and technology, changing concepts of health and disease, as well as local society in the formulation and implementation of anti-malaria policies. It will be of interest to historians of colonialism, medicine and public health, Asia, as well as health and social policy planners.
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Customer Reviews (1)

decades of struggle
Nowadays, malaria is typically relegated to a few developing countries around the equator. But it also afflicted Italy during much of the early twentieth century. Especially the warm southern regions. In no small part, it laid low the productivity of the people. Snowden shows how it became the predominant public health issue for many Italian governments.

Progress against malaria was slow and fitful. Quinine was recognised and promoted freely to sufferers. A dramatic and measurable improvement over what came before. As seen in a table, where the mortality per million fell from 490 in 1900 to 57 in 1914. Few public treatments have been as effective and, indeed, as simple and cheap to implement.

But World War 1 led to a resurgence, due to the difficult conditions of hostilities and the drain on government resources for the war effort. The postwar rise of Mussolini gave an episode in the struggle against malaria. He saw defeating it as a huge boost to his government. Thus, massive resources were spent on efforts like draining the Pontine Marshes, and other similar efforts in Apulia and Tuscany.

World War 2 led to the 1944 episode where the Wehrmacht introduced bioterror, by enabling the breeding of Anopheles in swamps, as the German army retreated north. Snowden's description of this is well done. In Europe, at least, it was the only known use of bioterror in the 20th century. And in direct contravention to the Conventions that Germany had signed before the war. Some readers will also see parallels with the Japanese biological efforts in Manchuria during that war. ... Read more

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A rich and wonderful history of quinine -- the cure for malaria.In the summer of 1623, ten cardinals and hundreds of their attendants, engaged in electing a new Pope, died from the 'mal'aria' or 'bad air' of the Roman marshes. Their choice, Pope Urban VIII, determined that a cure should be found for the fever that was the scourge of the Mediterranean, northern Europe and America, and in 1631 a young Jesuit apothecarist in Peru sent to the Old World a cure that had been found in the New -- where the disease was unknown.The cure was quinine, an alkaloid made of the bitter red bark of the cinchona tree, which grows in the Andes. Both disease and cure have an extraordinary history. Malaria badly weakened the Roman Empire. It killed thousands of British troops fighting Napoleon during the Walcheren raid on Holland in 1809 and many soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. It turned back many of the travellers who explored west Africa and brought the building of the Panama Canal to a standstill.When, after a thousand years, a cure was finally found, Europe's Protestants, among them Oliver Cromwell, who suffered badly from malaria, feared it was nothing more than a Popish poison. More than any previous medicine, though, quinine forced physicians to change their ideas about treating illness. Before long, it would change the face of Western medicine.Using fresh research from the Vatican and the Indian Archives in Seville, as well as hitherto undiscovered documents in Peru, Fiammetta Rocco describes the ravages of the disease, the quest of the three Englishmen who smuggled cinchona seeds out of South America, the way quinine opened the door to Western imperial adventure in Asia, Africa and beyond, and why, even today, quinine grown in the eastern Congo still saves so many people suffering from malaria. ... Read more

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"Cinchona revolutionized the art of medicine as profoundly as gunpowder had the art of war."

Customer Reviews (10)

Informative and Entertaining
I found this book to be very informative and a pleasure to read.It recounts the story of malaria and quinine in an entertaining manner.It is very antithesis of a dry science-history that imparts the necessary information but in the process bores the reader to death.The author has personal experience with malaria and weaves this into the story, giving it a more human dimension.This is not to say that the book is about her and her family, although this is discussed.The book recounts the history of malaria, its impact on history in general, the search for a cure, and how this cure was implemented.It tells how the bark of a plant located thousands of miles away from the centers of malaria contagion was found to be a cure and how this was brought to the attention of the whole world.The reader learns how Jesuits brought the bark of the miraculous fever tree to Rome, how the value of the drug produced from it was debated, denigrated and finally accepted.The book also recounts the economic aspects of the story, from the attempt to prevent trees being grown outside their natural habitat, thereby marinating a lucrative monopoly, to the planting of forests in Asia and Africa, to the development of chemically produced alternatives and their impact on these forests.The book also discuses the important military aspects of this story, from its impact on the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War to WWI and WWII.The complex life cycle of the malaria parasite is discussed, as is the story of how this very complex riddle was solved.

This may not be the definitive book on malaria and quinine, but in my opinion the story was covered in sufficient detail for me and in a manner that I greatly appreciated.I recommend this book to those interested in the history of medicine, history in general and to all those who appreciate a well-written non-fiction book.

A well-crafted, beautifully written book
Books about things that "change the world," are still popular and relevant to the non-fiction reader.A classic example is Fiammetta Rocco's, Quinine: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure That Changed the World (Harper Collins, 2003), a book that traces the history of quinine from its discovery in the 17th Century by Jesuit missionaries in Peru to its use by expanding European colonial powers and its role in the development of modern anti-malaria pills.The priests learned of the bark of the cinchona tree, which was used by Andean natives to cure shivering, at a time when malaria, then known as Roman ague or marsh fever, was devastating southern Europe.The Jesuits eagerly began the distribution of the curative bark, which also helped European explorers and missionaries survive the disease as they entered new territories. The interest generated by Rocco's book is due to her delving into the relationship between man and plant and that as she demonstrates so well, a plant substance can be dealt with at a personal level.She also is the great-granddaughter of Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, a soldier and engineer and at one time the Panamanian ambassador to the United States. A genius in the art of lobbyist statecraft, he has been referred to as the "Inventor of Panama," and was called one of the most extraordinary Frenchmen to ever live, and he, like his granddaughter survived malaria, so Rocco knows about malaria and quinine from street level, so to speak. She also has the advantage of being a really good writer and having travelled or lived in many interesting places. Well-crafted, beautifully written, it is book well worth the read.

Bitter pills
Subtitles about X "that changed the world" are off-putting, because most such books are superficial or narrow-minded, or both. Not "Quinine."

Although Fiammetta Rocco's approach is idiosyncratic, it is thorough. She visited many of the key places, from Peru to the Congo, and she read some of the original documents. Also, she has had malaria herself and comes from a family with an intimate association with the disease, from Panama to her childhood home in Kenya. In the hands of a less skilled writer, her discursive approach would not have worked. Here, it works charmingly.

Not that the story has much charm of its own. Not only is malaria a nasty disease, the men who found the cinchona tree and guessed it would treat the fever and who fought among themselves over religion and profits often, ended up half- to fully mad.

The whole thing is so improbable. Malaria existed only in the Old World, the fever-tree only in the Andes of the New World. The locals drank a powder of the very bitter bark to ease the shakes, which gave the idea to a Jesuit that it might treat the fever in Rome -- at that time, 1630, fever was thought to be a disease, not a symptom.

The intellectual battles over this cure helped to dismantle the belief in Greek medicine, and, much later, the investigation of the disease's transmission also opened up an unexpected area of natural history -- human parasites mediated by insects.

One word that does not appear in "Quinine" is "vaccine." Largish sums of money and very large hopes are being invested in finding a malaria vaccine. There are reasons to think this venture will never succeed. At any event, Rocco ignores this avenue to concentrate on the tried-and-true cure.

She also, thankfully, says not a word about global warming and the expansion of malaria. Malaria is not a tropical disease -- a point she makes repeatedly -- and a warmer world will not extend its reach. It is a disease of poverty, and she includes a world map of malaria's empire in the 21st century that makes the point clear.

Her day job is as a literary editor in London, and she includes a list of novels in which malaria features. It is this sort of personal intrusion that helps raise "Quinine" well above the usual level of techno-historical writing.

Malaria shows limits of evlution
Malaria has always plagued mankind. This gives us extensive history of the malaria parasite's and mankind's evolutionary response to each other. In reviewing this warfare of parasite vs. host in a scientific way, Michael Behe in his "The Edge of Evolution" shows how far evolution can go -- and it isn't very far.

Nicely Done
If you like meanders through history, and the type of big picture "How X changed the world" books, then this is for you.Draws upon the author's family history, and takes us on a 5 century long whirlwind tour.Liked it. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This Millennium Project Task Force Report presents an innovative strategic framework for relieving the burden that malaria imposes on society through the implementation of tried and tested anti-malarial interventions designed to improve health nationally and to promote economic development locally. Recommendations include early diagnosis; treatment with effective anti-malarial medicines; the use of insecticide treated nets; indoor residual spraying; managing the environment; improving housing; extending health education and improving monitoring and evaluation systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Coming to Grips with Malaria in the New Millennnium
This is an excellent book. It outlines the United Nations goals and provides an approach to deal with malaria. I would recommend this to anyone interested in tropical diseases or international development issues.

A must-read on Malaria
This is a UN publication resulting from the Millennium Development Goals laid down in 2000. It reads like the report that it is, but the facts are so staggering that one cannot possibly be bored, although some skimming may be required. For those of limited time, there is an executive summary right at the front. What will you learn? That 50% of the world's population is exposed to malaria; that the disease results in 1.1-2.7 million deaths each year; and that 20% of childhood deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are attributable to malaria, just to name a few of the informational tidbits found in these pages. This report outlines concrete solutions to preventing and controlling the disease, and the steps required to achieve them. It also covers obstacles to success, namely financial, but including multimedicine resistance and intellectual property rights issues.This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand malaria and other diseases, and the gloabl response to them. ... Read more

Product Description
Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. It infects between 300 and 500 million people every year and causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is not just a disease commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development. Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public health problem. The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The most serious forms of the disease are caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, but other related species (Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae) can also infect humans. This group of human-pathogenic Plasmodium species are usually referred to as malaria parasites. This book presents leading-edge new research in this field. ... Read more

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"Molecular Approaches to Malaria" provides an overview of the rapid and significant developments that have occurred in malaria research, including the 2002 genome sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum and its mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae. This work: provides a concise source of up-to-date research findings; appeals to a diverse audience, including malaria researchers, teachers, investigators, and public health professionals; offers contributions by recognized malaria researchers with practical experience; and, presents comprehensive coverage of topics including a clearly written introduction to Plasmodium molecular biology. ... Read more

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Malaria is one of the leading killers in the world today. Though drugs against malaria have a long history, attempts to develop novel therapeutics spanned the twentieth century and continue today. In this historical study, Leo B. Slater shows the roots and branches of an enormous drug development project during World War II. Fighting around the globe, American soldiers were at high risk for contracting malaria, yet quinine a natural cure became harder to acquire. A U.S. government-funded antimalarial program, initiated by the National Research Council, brought together diverse laboratories and specialists to provide the best drugs to the nation's military. This wartime research would deliver chloroquinine long the drug of choice for prevention and treatment of malaria and a host of other chemotherapeutic insights.
A massive undertaking, the antimalarial program was to biomedical research what the Manhattan Project was to the physical sciences.
A volume in the Critical Issues in Health and Medicine series, edited by Rima D. Apple and Janet Golden ... Read more

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Chronicling a 100-year quest, this book tells the fascinating story of the hunt for the still-elusive malaria vaccine. Its clear, engaging style makes the book accessible to a general audience and brings to life all the drama of the hunt, celebrating the triumphs and documenting the failures. The author captures the controversies, missteps, wars of words, stolen ideas, and clashes of ego as researchers around the world compete to develop the first successful malaria vaccine. "The Elusive Malaria Vaccine: Miracle or Mirage?" is based on author Irwin W. Sherman's thorough investigation of the scientific literature as well as his first-hand interviews with today's pioneers in malaria vaccine research. As a result, the book offers remarkable insights into the keys to a successful malaria vaccine and the obstacles hindering its development. Malaria is one of humankind's greatest killers, currently afflicting some 300 to 500 million people. Moreover, malaria infections have begun to spread and surge in places previously free from the disease.With the book's easy-to-follow coverage of such topics as immunity, immunology, recombinant DNA, and monoclonal antibodies, readers gain a new understanding of the disease itself, the importance of microbe hunters, and the need for responsible leadership to face the challenges that lie ahead in the battle against malaria. This book chronicles the successes and failures in the 100-year-old hunt for a malaria vaccine. It offers easy-to-follow explanations that are understandable to a general audience. It provides a unique, single-authored, comprehensive and critical review of malaria vaccines. It incorporates the latest scientific literature as well as viewpoints and perspectives from leaders in malaria vaccine research. It explains the microbiology underlying the discovery of malaria parasites. It helps readers understand why a successful malaria vaccine still does not exist. It serves as essential reading for anyone interested in infectious disease, public health, and public policy regarding malaria prevention and control. ... Read more

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Toward A Malaria Vaccine
This book is reviewed by Brian Greenwood in Science magazine volume 326 page 369. Oct 16, 2009 ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent introduction to malaria and a classic work in the early development of it's treatment
This work nicely covers key clinical and scientific information drafted in the late 1800s, before the cause of malaria was understood by science.It offers an excellent and intellectual overview of the illness, what was believed to be the cause, and clinical case histories for various forms of malarial diseases.

It is an excellent overview for the early student of epidemology and for anywone who wants to understand some of the core challenges relating to malaria. ... Read more

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Malaria is a serious disease caused by a tiny mosquito-borne parasite called Plasmodium. It once affected entire empires, but thanks to the work of health organizations, malaria is now mostly confined to warm, moist climates. Scientists are still at work today, however, developing methods of curing the disease and destroying its carriers. ... Read more

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Microscopists are vital to malaria programs, and their diagnostic and technical skills are relied on in both curative services and disease surveillance. Thus, training in malaria microscopy must be sound and must reach today's high standards.

This training package has been adjusted to meet the changes in the way malaria is diagnosed and treated. The training manual is divided in two parts: a learner's guide (Part I) and a tutor's guide (Part II). The package includes a CD-ROM, prepared by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which contains microphotographs of the different malaria parasite species and technical information in PowerPoint format, which can be shown during training sessions and referred to by the participants. Emphasis is placed on teaching and learning, including monitoring and evaluating individuals and the group during training.

This handbook (Part I of the Basic Malaria Microscopy training modules) will assist participants during training in the microscopic diagnosis of human malaria. Designed as the foundation for formal training of 4-5 weeks duration, the guide is destined for participants with only elementary knowledge of science.

This second edition of the Basic Malaria Microscopy package is a stand-alone product, providing all that is needed to conduct a complete training course. It still contains the beautiful and accurate water-color illustrations prepared for the first edition of the manual by the late Yap Loy Fong. Experience has shown that color drawings are best in training new recruits to recognize parasite stages and species, because single plane pictures help students to extrapolate from what they see under the microscope, focused at a number of focal planes, to a complete view of the parasite. Later, they can move from drawings and use microphotographs, which will have an additional, positive impact. Thus, the training course is further strengthened if copies of the WHO Bench aids for malaria microscopy are also made available to trainees.

Link to Tutor's guide: Basic Malaria Microscopy: Part II. Tutor's guide

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Malaria afflicts millions in low- and middle-income countries. For centuries, it has impaired economic growth, child development, learning, health, and productivity on a large scale. In 1998 the Bank cofounded, with WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP, the global Roll Back Malaria Partnership to coordinate and enhance the global fight against malaria. There has been some success, but the pace of work was slower than desired and the scale was less than expected. The world now faces additional challenges, not the least of which is the emergence of drug-resistant forms of malaria. This new Global Strategy increases efforts to control malaria. It lays the basis for a Booster Program for Malaria Control using country-led programs and partnerships with community service organizations, specialized agencies, and financiers of malaria control at all levels. The new Global Strategic Plan of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership combines measures to increase coverage of malaria-specific interventions with effective service delivery, broader health-system development, and capacity building across multiple sectors. ... Read more

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"In North America, mosquito bites are usually only a nuisance. But in areas such as Africa and Southeast Asia, the bite can be deadly. There, many mosquitoes transmit a disease called malaria--and malaria can be a killer. In Africa, one child dies from malaria every thirty seconds. Worldwide, more than one million people die from malaria each year. What can be done to stop this global killer?

This book examines how public health organizations work to protect people from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, how doctors care for people who do get malaria, and how researchers try to better understand and fight malaria. But malaria presents a complex puzzle for researchers. The parasite that causes malaria takes several different forms and can damage the body in many ways.

Malaria does its worst damage among people in poor nations. These countries often have inadequate public health and medical systems, making prevention and treatment difficult. In addition, children who are sick with malaria cannot go to school. Adults with malaria cannot work. Thus malaria often pushes poor people deeper into poverty." ... Read more

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This is a stunning book about malaria, a "major global killer," that is making a comeback around the world ...
Many young people are unaware of the impact of malaria on the lives of people around the world.Historically, the United States had its battle with it, but by 1951 it was eradicated.Many of us have read about malaria when we read Laura Ingalls recount how her family was plagued with fever `n ague.Ma was convinced that it had been caused by watermelon and was not happy when Pa decided to sample some after their scary encounter with what is now known as malaria.This once mysterious disease has been around for thousands of years.Romans dubbed it "mala aria" or "bad air."

Over the centuries there was a considerable amount of speculation as to the origin and cause of the disease.In this book you will read about the history of malaria and the actual discovery as to what caused this very serious illness.Each year "malaria sickens between three hundred million and five million people around the world," many of whom perish from it, especially young children.In spite of major efforts to eradicate the disease it is making a resurgeance and is once again being known as a "major global killer."

So what does cause this mysterious disease and what are its symptoms?In fact there are two forms of malaria, each form transmitted to a human being via an "Anopheles" mosquito infected by one of four different "Plasmodium" parasites.In this book you will meet the three scientists who solved the puzzle of how the disease was transmitted and what caused it.The symptoms are exhibited in three stages:The cold stage, the hot stage, and the wet stage.The afflicted person will experience chills, shivering, fever, headaches, and profuse sweating.

This startling book will take the reader through history and around the world teaching us many interesting facts about the disease that is once again a rearin its ugly head. Among the many things that one will learn is that it is one of the top three "dreaded diseases" today, how it is transmitted, you'll get a detailed look at the parasite that causes it, ancient treatments, current prevention methods,a host of stunning new research approaches, how "Cinchona" bark proved to be a miracle cure, why the disease is making a comeback, how global warming is "setting the stage for malaria where it never before occurred," why we went backward in our efforts to eradicate the disease, we will learn about such things as "imported malaria," we'll get a glimpse at success stories with school-based programs, and we'll get to learn about many, many more interesting facets of this disease.Do you have any idea what a transgenic mosquito is?Check it out on pages 97-98 of this book . . . you're going to be amazed!

This is a stunning book about malaria, a "major global killer," that is making a comeback around the world.When I first started reading this book I was wondering why anyone would want to write so much about this disease (especially one we don't have in this country), but by the time I reached the end of this amazing book I understood why.It was very well written and researched.There were photographs and numerous informative sidebars scattered throughout the book.For example, in one of the sidebars, which spanned two pages, we learn about the dishonesty of some people who actually sell fake malaria medications that are "flooding Asia and Africa" and how people can now test to determine if they are real or not.The more I read I quickly understood that my "why" should have been "why not?"In the back of the book there is a timeline, a thorough index, a glossary, source notes, a selected bibliography, and additional recommended book, film, organizations, and website resources to explore. ... Read more

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