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Tropical medicine is the branch of medical science that aims to combat health issues primarily related to diseases prevalent in tropical areas. Tropical medicine was developed during the age of European colonialism, especially during the 19th century when large-scale colonization of tropical areas occurred. European scientific methods were superior to those available to inhabitants of most tropical areas and so expertise to deal with health issues developed outside these regions. Local people wishing to contribute to this science found it necessary to travel to the colonizing power’s home territory, since this is where scientific establishments were customarily established.
Toward the end of the 19th century, a number of important discoveries were made which greatly improved the health of people in tropical regions. This included the identification of the role of mosquitoes in transmitting malaria and the role of the tsetse fly in transmitting sleeping sickness, as well as the causes of yellow fever.
These discoveries were being made at the same time that large-scale transformation of the tropical lands was undertaken for economic purposes. This led to the draining of swamps, moving of people to different residential areas, and the creation of new economic industries and activities. Similar activities previously undertaken in the developed countries had helped to reduce the impacts of such diseases in some cases. The continued prevalence of some diseases in this category is more properly the result of poverty and poor infrastructure rather than specific climate or location, even though the environment contributes. Additionally, tropical regions contain poisonous or otherwise hazardous plants or animals that require specialized medical knowledge.
Local and indigenous health knowledge in tropical areas can be extensive. While in some few cases local information can be misleading (sometimes dangerously so), many indigenous systems of treatment have proven extremely effective. Much of this knowledge is endangered, however, through its displacement by modern techniques, technology, and expertise. The disappearance of local, contextual, and appropriate medical knowledge represents a serious potential loss as traditional systems and groups are absorbed through modernization.
The increasing importance of migration in the modern world, and the enhanced possibilities for cheap international travel has lent an additional importance to tropical medicine. Those traveling to tropical regions need high quality information on their destinations and public health officials wish to be aware of the health implications of people having traveled to a tropical region interacting with the home population. The competencies obtained from studying tropical medicine have proved useful in tackling outbreaks of new problems such as SARS and avian influenza. As global warming increases the extent of territory that might be considered tropical, the application of tropical medicine knowledge is becoming newly relevant.
Bibliography:
- Michael Eddleston, Robert Davidson, Robert Wilkinson, and Stephen Pierini, Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine (Oxford University Press, 2002);
- John Farley, Bilharzia: A History of Imperial Tropical Medicine (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
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