Venereal diseases, military and women in colonial Fiji (1930s-1940s)

Abstract

This article explores the main features and the implications of the colonial medical policies and legislation regarding Venereal diseases (VD) during the colonial period (the 1930s-40s) in Fiji. The British Parliament has intensively discussed the VD, enacted various regulations, introduced prevention campaigns to combat this deadly infectious disease, and rescued its military citizens. The current literature on the history of medicine in relation to the growth and implications of VD in Fiji needs to be studied more. Therefore, the analysis investigated how imperial VD, legislation in Fiji, and the loss of allied acts passed. The research represents the historical, ethnic, and cultural context of developing new markers of apparent predominance among Europeans, Indians, Natives, and others in the national population. This study objectively re-examines the un-researched quantitative and qualitative data available in the National Archives of Fiji and other repositories to document the growth and evolution of VD and it's cures in colonial Fiji.

Keywords

• Venereal diseases
• medical practices
• remedies
• hospitals
• colonial policies
• and parliamentary debates