History of health in the Indian Ocean: care, prevention, teaching, and research from the 17(th) to the mid-20th century.

Abstract

In 1498, the Portuguese crossed the Cape of Good Hope. It was not until the period of 1633 and 1666, dates of the founding, respectively, of the Compagnie de l'Orient and the Compagnie des Indes orientales, that the way was definitively opened for trade between France and India. Because so many sailors developed scurvy after voyages that lasted 4 to 5 months, the French settled on Bourbon Island (Réunion) and Ile de France (Mauritius), to provide them with medical care. Created in 1689 by Louis XIV, the Navy Health Service was responsible for health in the colonies until it was replaced in 1890 by the Colonial Health Service. European medicine began its slow diffusion around the Indian Ocean in Pondicherry (India). The naval doctors reported their experiences in the Archives de médecine navale (1864-1889), and the colonial doctors afterwards in the Archives de médecine navale et coloniale (1890-1896). The health system in Madagascar developed strongly during 19(th) and 20(th) centuries, and the subsequent development of health care in the other Indian Ocean islands became closely linked to that of Madagascar. On Bourbon, the two navy hospitals in Saint-Paul and Saint-Denis treated only naval and military personnel. The colony had no hospital providing care for civilians and poor people until three civilian doctors opened a maison de santé (health house) in 1846.