Development of Colonial Medical and Health Services in Ibadan, 1957 – 1960

Abstract

There is no doubt that medicine is important in the history of any society. In fact, no society can prosper and make reasonable progress in the absence of healthy population. Sound and relatively adequate medical facilities constitute one of the requirements for a healthy society. This paper surveys the development of colonial medical and health services in Ibadan between 1957 and 1960. It identifies the factors and personalities connected with the consolidation of hospital services in Ibadan. In addition, it highlights the reactions of the population of Ibadan to the development of medical services. Besides, it establishes that the provision of medical and preventive health amenities was limited to the city of Ibadan. This limitation of colonial medical intervention coupled with age old medical ideas in Ibadan consequently occasioned the continuity of indigenous medical culture and adaptation of Western medicine in Ibadan. The paper utilized a simple historical methodology involving the use of largely primary archival records, oral interviews and secondary sources.