China in the Worldwide Eradication of Smallpox, 1900-1985: Recovering and Democratizing Histories of International Health

The thesis examines the legal, epidemiological, and institutional challenges in the complex process of the global smallpox eradication programme (SEP) in the case of China, which was not a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) when the programme was delivered. The thesis is unfolded in three levels. On the global level, it investigates the impact of Cold War politics on the policy of the WHO, as well as the engagement between the WHO Headquarters, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), and various member states regarding China’s membership in the organization and its impact on the SEP. On the international level, it examines the knowledge exchange between China and various groups of experts shifted from time in the 20th century (including the Yugoslav experts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the League of Nations Health Organization before the war, the technical assistance from the United Nations, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) during the war, as well as the Soviet experts after the war), and how these different visions of medicine and public health were adapted or resisted in the local contexts of China. On the national level, it studies how the changing political landscape shaped the international health collaboration activities and public health policies in the communist China from 1949 to 1980, and under which background smallpox eradication was conceived, planned, delivered, achieved in the country and eventually certified by the WHO. This research has contributed to adding new timelines to the history of global smallpox eradication, which challenges the institutional history that only highlights contribution of a few participants from the global north. The thesis has also discussed questions closely connected to current concerns from historical perspective, such as the legal representation of China and Taiwan in the WHO, and the quality and trustworthiness of public health data from China. It provides new perspectives to evaluate China’s role in international and global health activities through the case of smallpox control and eradication.