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Abstract

The Government of India made certain choices regarding four deadly infectious diseases, and for several reasons, the health of colonial subjects rarely entered into discussions of infectious disease policy at the central level. The Government of India’s approach to health policy was largely instrumental, considering international and domestic political relationships and economic impact primarily and the well-being of Indians only secondarily, if at all. To understand why the government adopted this approach, it is necessary to look beyond a metropole-colony dialectic and examine how international health organizations and policies influenced and were influenced by governments and health officials in India and to understand the role that state perceptions of risk played in health policy decisions.

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Notes

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© 2012 Sandhya L. Polu

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Polu, S.L. (2012). Disease as Prism. In: Infectious Disease in India, 1892–1940. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137009326_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137009326_6

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34657-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-00932-6

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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