Colonial Medicine Ills

Colonialism and medicine may seem to be separate subjects on their own, but this paper demonstrates how both subjects have interacted together in the recent modern era and produced harmful effects on diverse populations. This article reviews five sources that focus on different regions of the world. A common theme emerges from the colonial application of medicine and from the power imbalance that exploited the use of cheap labour. The combination of frenzied economically driven colonization, and the rise of modern medicine imposed European social constructs on Indigenous peoples, which caused them direct harm, and often fostered the spread of disease. Under a false concept of racial differences and implied hierarchy, European countries frequently failed their colonial subjects.