Apparent and actual disease landscapes. Some reflections on the geographical definition of health and disease

Like geographical analysis in general, medical geography is based on the assumption that location is the first clue to causal analysis. Against a background of two empirical studies, one dealing with a group of ALS cases and the other with a group of leukaemia cases, this paper argues that it is insufficient to define disease occurrence in spatial terms, referring to patients' places of residence at the time of onset. Since exposure and effect are related to both time and place, geographical studies of ill health in modern society are complicated by high mobility, long periods of latency and environmental change which might cause a distortion between cause and effect. Therefore a different approach is required.     

The Ryti Case: language,gender and the rules of the game in Finnish academic medicine in the 1920s

This article focuses on a controversy that took place in the academic medical circles of Helsinki in c. 1925–1927. Among the main actors in this controversy was Elsa Ryti, MD, one of the first women to make herself a name in medical science in Finland. The controversy became public in early 1926 and was then discussed by the Board and the Council of the Finnish Medical Association. The dispute is historically interesting because of its capacity to disclose tensions, power structures and lines of power within the field of academic medicine. In order to understand the course and outcome of the controversy, it is necessary to take into account several intersecting lines of power: the asymmetrical distribution of power and knowledge at the university clinics, the acute language strife at the time between speakers of Finnish and Swedish, the tension between the clinic and the laboratory and, last but not least, the matter of gender.     

Was bedeutet “Entschuldigung”? Die Überlebenden medizinischer NS‐Verbrechen und die Max‐Planck‐Gesellschaft

The Meaning of “Apology”: The Survivors of Nazi Medical Crimes and the Max Planck Society. Around the turn of the twenty‐first century a new practice in international politics became established: representatives of political, economic and religious organisations apologised for the historical and political crimes of their own collectives, addressing the victims or the victims' descendants. At a public event in Juni 2001, a formal apology of this kind was made by the president of the Max Planck Society (MPS), who had previously launched an extensive programme of research into the National Socialist history of what was then the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. The majority of the eight invited survivors of human experimentation in Nazi concentration camps refused forgiveness. Instead, they called for the MPS not to content itself with historical research and analysis, but to ensure the continued remembrance of the victims and their suffering. Starting from this 2001 ritual of repentance, the paper examines the participants' diverse views of how to deal with the medical crimes of National Socialism, and asks about possibilities of going beyond historical retrospection to fulfil the imperative of remembrance.     

Reporting by Letter: The 2nd Earl of Hardwicke and his Parliamentary Correspondents

For much of the 18th century, letter writing remained an important means of communicating news about proceedings at Westminster. Members of leading parliamentary families such as the Hardwickes were prolific letter writers and their correspondence has long been valued as a source for the period before the regular reporting of debates became established in the newspaper press. This article focuses on reporting by letter in the correspondence of the 2nd earl of Hardwicke and his circle. It reconstructs Hardwicke's network of informants and considers how the nature of their connection with the earl affected the way they conceived of their role as reporters. With reference to the epistolary conventions of the time, it asks how the circumstances in which letters were composed and read may have shaped the style and content of the reports. Finally, the article examines the impact made on the epistolary tradition by the emergence of newspaper reporting in the later 18th century and assesses the extent to which this development led letter writers to adjust their methods and goals.     

基于对应分析法的遗产旅游影响感知差异研究

旅游发展给世界遗产地带来的影响日益受到众多学者关注。本文通过对全国13个遗产地进行分组调研与考察,利用SPSS13.0对数据进行统计描述分析、多组数据单项方差分析,对遗产地经济、社会、环境、文化影响的总体影响进行定量归纳,并重点利用对应分析法分析了不同性别、年龄及学历的受访者对旅游影响的感知差异。     

Health geography in Canada: where are we headed?

This paper overviews the emergence of medical/health geography in Canada. The paper discusses the key questions that Canadian health geographers have explored in the past two decades, how these enquiries have featured in the field and how they contribute to the wider discourse of human geography. It also addresses questions on emerging themes and where Canadian health geography will go in the years ahead. With shifting health landscapes in terms of changes in social, political and physical environments, and changes in health care restructuring, Canadian health geographers are entering a new phase of research, teaching and policy. The complexity of the questions that health geographers seek to address means it is necessary to continue to highlight the policy implications of their findings. Health geographers need to emphasize the public agenda through interdisciplinary research and by continuing to work with geographers in other subfields.     

Frontier Journeys. Fore Experiences on the Kuru Patrols.

ABSTRACT This paper explores the narratives of a group of Fore men recruited as youngsters to assist a succession of scientists to investigate kuru. Against a backdrop of European intrusion, the narrators recall their motivations to assist the scientists and describe their experiences on patrol. Reflecting on the hazards, challenges and adventures faced, these narratives draw attention to the extent to which the kuru scientists depended on their Fore assistants. However, while identifying many of their experiences as highlights of their youth, the narratives also uncover a negative undercurrent of disappointment and bitterness over unrealised youthful aspirations.     

新型农村合作医疗制度中的社会性别盲点及其影响

新型农村合作医疗制度的实施,结束了占全国总人口63％的农村居民缺乏医疗保障的历史,为促进社会和谐奠定了坚实的基础。然而作为一项公共政策,新型农村合作医疗制度在性别方面似乎存在不公平现象。本文在实地调查的基础上对其表现及其产生的影响进行分析和探讨。     

集体化时期农村合作医疗制度评析——以河北省深泽县为个案

集体化时期的合作医疗制度始终坚持缓解农村医疗困境的大方向,通过发挥集体经济的优势、进行医务人员"在地化"培训以及坚持"预防为主"等方式,让有史以来人数最多的农民有了制度化的健康保障,充分体现了社会主义制度的优越性,并赢得国际社会的广泛赞誉。取得如此成就的原因,国家领导人的高度重视、国家的政策倾向,以及"文化大革命"的推动缺一不可。而这些因素发挥作用,又必须以集体经济为依托。虽然合作医疗制度在具体操作中也存在基层干部及赤脚医生玩忽职守、营私舞弊等问题,但其在国家一穷二白的条件下所取得的成就依然是共和国医疗卫生史上的制高点。