Philippine E-Journals

American Health Service Vis-á-Vis Plague Incidence in the Philippines

Eden M. Gripaldo

Discipline: Philippine History

 

Abstract:

The paper pursues the hypothesis that the American health authorities seriously took their responsibility of providing the best of health possible for the Filipino people. Had it not been largely for their dedication to duty and vigilance in suppressing plague, the disease could have become epidemic in the Philippines in the first few decades of American rule just as it had in China, Japan, India, and in other places in the world. Only those acquainted with the local conditions, ideas, and customs of the Filipinos can realize the magnitude of the difficulties American health personnel encountered and the obstacles they surmounted in bringing about the best possible health conditions in the country.