Public health developments in colonial Malaya: Colonialism and the politics of prevention

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.