In both African and Asian colonies until the late 19th century, colonial me
dicine operated pragmatically to meet the medical needs first of colonial o
fficers and troops, immigrant settlers, and laborers responsible for econom
ic development, then of indigenous populations when their ill health threat
ened the well-being of the expatriate population. Since the turn of the cen
tury, however, the consequences of colonial expansion and development for i
ndigenous people's health had become increasingly apparent, and disease con
trol and public health programs were expanded in this light. These programs
increased government surveillance of populations at both community and hou
sehold levels. As a consequence, colonial states extended institutional ove
rsight and induced dependency through public health measures. Drawing on my
own work on colonial Malaya, I illustrate developments in public health an
d their links to the moral logic of colonialism and its complementarity to
the political economy.