Articles by Shirish N Kavadi

In the early 1920s, the Rockefeller Foundation conducted an anti-hookworm campaign in Madras Presidency with the objective of controlling hookworm infection. However, the larger aim was to use it as an entry point for extensive sanitary measures and public health education. Two decades later infection rates remained constant while sanitation made little progress. The common people's beliefs and attitudes were blamed for this. The reality was different. It was the RF's diffused focus and the inconsistencies in its approach coupled with the government's lack of commitment to the programme and public health that determined the campaign's results.