Introduction: Politics and Health

Abstract

Henrik Ibsen sketched a close linkage between politics and health. Published in 1882, his play An Enemy of the People highlighted the dependence of doctors on government policies. Purists and pragmatists battled over the safety of the local water supply in a town along the Norwegian coast. Dr Thomas Stockman uncovered poisonous bacteria polluting the water works (‘Baths’) and endangering the community with typhoid fever. Dr Stockman urged his older brother Peter, who served as town mayor, chief of police, and chairman of the Board of the Baths, to rebuild the water pipes and sewage system. Yet this policy would entail higher taxes, greater unemployment, and lower profits for businessmen, mainly because the town operated as a resort area. Mayor Peter Stockman rejected his brother’s demands to close the Baths. A public meeting occurred to discuss this issue. As a purist, Dr Stockman championed the cause of public health. Challenging government authorities with justifications based on moral right, civic virtue, and ultimate ends, he viewed the dispute over the water supply as a conflict between good and evil. For him, bacteria polluted the water. Lies, opportunism, and eagerness to compromise polluted the spiritual values of the community.