5B Liu

Session Title: Epidemics and Society

Session Organizer: Michael LIU (Academia Sinica)

Chair: TBA

1) Michael Shiyung LIU (Academia Sinica)

Epidemics, natural disasters, and medical salvation in Sino- Japanese war China (1937-1945)

2) Chia San SHEN and Michael Shiyung LIUiu and Chia San SHEN ((Academia Sinica and National Chengchi University National Chengchi UniversityAcademia Sinica)

The re-examination of the disease preventive policy in Taiwan under Japanese administration (1916-1930)

3) Kenichi OHMI (National Institute of Public Health, Japan)

Quantitative analysis about the impact of “Spanish flu” pandemic on Imperial Japan: Japanese main islands, Korea and Taiwan

Shiyung Michael LIU, is Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica. He holds Ph.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and has served as a visiting scholar in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Liu hadisorderellowship (EU), and Senior Research Fellow at Ohio State University. He is the author of the books Prescribing Colonization (2009) and Katana and Lancet (2012). His research interests are Japanese colonial medicine, environmental history, and modern history of public health. He is now working on the project "Epidemics and the re-establishment of quarantine system in post-WWII East Asia."

Chia-san Shen is a Ph.D. student in Taiwan History at National Chengchi University. She received her M.A. from the department of Folk Arts in National Taipei University; the thesis title is "The Body Cleaning Life of Han-people in Taiwan during the First Half of 20 Century." Her academic interests include Taiwan's life history and hygiene history from Ching Dynasty to Japanese Administration. She is currently working on her dissertation focusing on the preventive medicine under the Japanese era, especially how the vaccination was an important means to prevent the infectious diseases. Now she holds of the doctorate fellowship awarded by the Hygienic Program, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica. You are welcome to contact her at: 527433@gmail.com.

Kenichi OHMI Kenichi Ohmi is Senior Researcher of Department of Health Promotion at National Institute of Public Health, Japan.  He wrote the paper, “Estimation of the excess death assciated with influenza pandemics and epidemics in Japan after World War II: relation with the pandemics and vaccination system” (Japanese Journal of Public Health 2011;58(10):867-878), “Public health intervention and social defense: From 19th and 21st century influenza pandemics and “non-pandemics”” (Journal of the National Institute of Public Health 2009;58:236-247).  His research intends to examine public health policy from historical perspective with statistical method.

Epidemics, natural disasters, and medical salvation in Sino- Japanese war China (1937-1945)

Michael Shiyung Liu

Associate Research fellow, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica

Abstract

During the Sino-Japanese war (1937-1949), Mainland China has suffered devastating damages not only by brutal battles but also by microorganisms and natural disasters. For instance, the invasion of Japanese troop in 1937 might destroy the bio-ecological balance on North China Plain. Endemic plague surged and soon transmitted to epidemic costing greater casualty. More life lost in 1938 when a flooding of Yellow River was strategically made by Chinese army for defense. The situations resulted in countless loss of human being and years of epidemics as well as uncontrollable disasters. While the Nationalist government retreated to its southwestern boards, more epidemics and natural disasters occurred. Similar scenario, natural and artificial damages replayed during the period of Sino-Japanese war (1917-1945). While the government failed to maintain its functions for medical care and disaster relief, doctors from Peking Union Medical College became an important resource of medical salvation during the epidemic and flooding in North China. Among them, a physiologist, Dr. Robert Lim (林可勝) organized the first medical crops to the field and continuously secured the relief from International Red-Cross to victims. During the Sino-Japanese war, Dr. Lim was appointed to the Director of Military Surgeon Bureau and brought China’s military medicine as well as emergency medicine to a new stage. 

To the cases in 1937 and 38, despite the Chinese traditionally saw diseases and natural disasters parts of regular life style, the surgeon blamed plagues and flooding to Japanese invasion. By doing so, defeating epidemics and disasters would be as important as military victory in battlefield. Such emotion in fact might lay a psychological foundation to the Patriotic Health Movement (愛國衛生運動) in the 50s. Compared with more studies focusing on war itself, the author would like to pay attention to explanation to patient/ refuges’ physical pain and loss to the war. The suffering experience of Chinese during the wartime would obviously need more study than simply settled in physical compensation. Generally speaking, this study will take personal records of Robert Lim and reports from his military surgeons in account the angle of body suffering in the wartime. The paper will portray how the war brought suffering and salvation simultaneously to Chinese society. 

The re-examination of the disease preventive policy in Taiwan under Japanese administration (1916-1930)

沈佳姍(Shen Chia san)、劉士永(Liu Shiyung)

Immunology has developed rapidly in the late 19th century and brought significant changes to the prevention and medical treatment of epidemic in the world. 

In Japan, the modern immunology study began in 1892 when the Institute of Infectious Diseases(伝染病研究所) has been established. After Japan began to govern Taiwan, it established the "Institute of Taiwan Governor"(台湾総督府研究所) to study the bacteriology and blood tests. In 1916, the Institute added as its works the manufacturing and selling of serum and microbiological goods (This did not happen in Koera). Then, the health policy based on immunization medicine had been emphasized and enforced in Taiwan.

Behind this phenomenon, were the questions of status and function assigned to the Institute of Taiwan Governor and the expected function of the immunization medicine. To answer those questions, this paper focuses on the Institute of Taiwan Governor which conducted the research of the human serum in Taiwan, especially during the period from 1916 to 1930, and studies how and why the manufacture and formulation of serum were carried out in Taiwan.

This study shows that, in the past, the studies of the medical history in Taiwan under the Japanese era only emphasized the management of environmental sanitation, such as disinfection and quarantine, but in fact, the government of the time took initiative to prevent and control diseases. The change of public conception of health not only brought change to the interaction of public health administrations between Japan and Taiwan, but also showed the change of preventive measures and health environment in Taiwan, and even of the Japanese colonial policy.

Quantitative analysis about the impact of “Spanish flu” pandemic on Imperial Japan: Japanese main islands, Korea and Taiwan

The Sixth Conference for the Asian Society for the History of Medicine,

14-15 December 2012,

Keio University, Hiyoshi Campus (Yokohama)

Kenichi Ohmi,

National Institute of Public Health, Japan

Abstract：

Objective: To assess the health impacts of 1918-20 influenza (“Spanish flu”) pandemic on Imperial Japan including Korea and Taiwan.

Methods: We calculated the number of additional deaths (excess mortality) using the data of “Japanese Empire Vital Statistics”, “Korean Governor-General Annual Statistical Reports” and “Taiwan Vital Statistics”.

Results: The total number of excess deaths from 1918-20 “Spanish flu” pandemic in Imperial Japan was almost 670,000 (Japanese main islands: almost 470,000).  The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) during the period was calculated with the Japanese in Japan as standard populations.  However, excess mortality in infant and child for both Japanese and the Korean in Korea are seemed to be underestimated after 1919 March First (Samil ) Movement, we have calculated SMR for 5-49 years old population, eliminating the effect of infant, child and old ages.  Then, SMR for 5-49 years old among the Japanese in Korea was almost alike with that of the Japanese in Japan, which among the Korean in Korea was 60% higher compared to those of Japanese in Japan.  Similarly, the level of excess mortality between the Japanese in Japan and those in Taiwan was alike, in contrast with those for the Taiwanese in Taiwan was higher by at least 60%.  Finally, the relationship between excess mortality and GDE per head in 1920, was assessed.  After adjusting the effect of the 1919 March First (Samil ) Movement, SMR was highest and GDE per head was lowest for Korea.

Conclusions: It is suspected that native people (the Korean in Korea and the Taiwanese in Taiwan) were vulnerable to “Spanish flu” pandemic compared with the Japanese in Korea, Taiwan and Japan.  And we may suspect that, as Christopher Murray et al. has pointed out, there would be a proportional relationship between health damage and poverty in Japan, Korea and Taiwan during the “Spanish flu” period.