Herbert Abrams in China: International Social Medicine

Abstract

It is a pleasure to be invited to add to the warm tribute to Herb Abrams by Julius Richmond in the previous issue of the Journal of Public Health Policy. Herb, as noted in the editorial introducing this issue, was one of the original members of the Journal's Editorial Board. His extraordinary contributions to public health and to social medicine have been widely recognized and highly honored. The remarkable regard in which Herb was held by his Chinese colleagues was poignantly evident during his final illness. As his widow retold the story of his last months and hospitalization in Tucson, messages and a notable visit distinguished the Chinese farewell to Herb from all others. First, it was the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences that sent a special communication. Not long after came a very personal missive to Herb from China's national government, the People's Republic of China (PRC). And finally, just before his death, a Chinese diplomat working in San Francisco flew to Tucson carrying special greetings to Herb from all of the people of China. These unprecedented honors recognized Herb's remarkable work in China in the 1940s. As a young medical officer in the US Public Health Service assigned to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), Herb was sent to China in 1945 to help in the effort to eradicate cholera. Most of coastal China was in the hands of the Japanese invaders. Herb worked in inland areas, first in the wartime capital of unoccupied China, a city known at that time as Chungking, a name now transliterated into English as