Abstract:
This paper examines the public health intervention of the
Rockefeller Foundation, one of the major ‘philanthropic’ organisations
in the world during the twentieth century, in the erstwhile princely state
of Thiruvithamkoor, which currently constitutes a part of Kerala state in
India. It discusses the specific historical context of the intervention, the
methods of intervention and their outcomes. It is argued that the
Foundation’s interests in Thiruvithamkoor went beyond its avowed
objective of philanthropy. Thiruvithamkoor provided a fertile ground
to the Foundation to be used as a ‘tropical observatory’s for research on
diseases on which it had already been preoccupied. It is also pointed out
that the activities of the Foundation became critical in the
institutionalisation of public health in Thiruvithamkoor and in helping
the region in controlling and finally eradicating some of the diseases at
a later date.
