“The Body Is Fragile in Those Susceptible to Tuberculosis”: Child Health and Tuberculosis in Health Books in Late Ottoman Empire

Öz

In the Ottoman Empire, from the late 19th century onwards, tuberculosis increasingly came to be seen as a significant threat. During this period, efforts were made to prevent the spread of the disease in places where people gathered, and since no medicine or vaccine was yet available against tuberculosis, health propaganda played a crucial role in both the late Ottoman and early Republican periods. Physicians not only produced scientific studies for their colleagues but also wrote various books to disseminate knowledge about tuberculosis to the general public. This article examines books on tuberculosis written in the late Ottoman period, focusing on the genre of medical advice literature on child health. The discussion will incorporate a public health perspective intertwined with pronatalist policies and modern state strategies, which addressed solutions to the health problems caused by tuberculosis and which aimed at framing personal hygiene as a social responsibility. The article will finally focus on how the public health approach took shape in the context of tuberculosis, examining the interaction between Ottoman medical literature and Western scientific thought and its implications for child health.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Tuberculosis
• History of medicine
• History of epidemics
• Late Ottoman Empire
• History of Child Health

"Vereme Müstaid Olanlarda Vücud Narindir": Geç Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Sağlık Kitaplarında Çocuk Sağlığı ve Verem

Öz

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nda, 19. yüzyılın sonlarından itibaren verem giderek daha artan bir şekilde tehdit olarak görülür hale gelmiştir. Bu dönemde, hastalığın toplu bir araya gelme yerlerinde yayılmasını engellemeye yönelik çabalar gösterilmiş, vereme karşı henüz ilaç ya da aşı bulunmadığından, sağlık propagandası geç Osmanlı ve erken Cumhuriyet dönemlerinde önemli bir rol oynamıştır. Hekimler yalnızca meslektaşlarına yönelik bilimsel çalışmalar üretmekle kalmamış, aynı zamanda veremle ilgili bilgileri herkese yaymak amacıyla çeşitli kitaplar da yazmışlardır. Bu makale son Osmanlı dönemine ait tıbbi literatürdeki veremle ilgili olarak kaleme alımış kitapları inceleyerek çocuk sağlığı üzerine gelişen tıbbi nasihat literatürünü inceleyecektir. Tartışma, pronatalist politikalar ve modern devlet stratejileriyle iç içe geçmiş bir halk sağlığı perspektifini içerecek ve veremin yarattığı sağlık sorunlarına yönelik çözüm önerileri ve kişisel hijyenin toplumsal bir yükümlülük olarak tanımlanmasını ele alacaktır. Son olarak makale, halk sağlığı yaklaşımının tüberküloz özelinde nasıl şekillendiğini merkeze alarak, Osmanlı tıbbi literatürünün Batı bilimsel düşüncesiyle etkileşimini ve bunun çocuk sağlığı üzerindeki yansımalarını inceleyecektir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Geç Osmanlı İmparatorluğu
• Verem
• Tıp tarihi
• Salgın hastalıklar tarihi
• Çocuk sağlığı tarihi

Teşekkür

Bu çalışma, 26-29 Mart 2025’te Leiden’da gerçekleştirilen The 15th European Social Science History Conference’ta COST Action CA22159, National, International and Transnational Histories of Healthcare, 1850-2000 (EuroHealthHist) desteğiyle sunmuş olduğum “In Those Susceptible to Tuberculosis, the Body is Fragile”: Exploring Children’s Health in Late Ottoman Medical Literature” başlıklı bildirinin gözden geçirilmiş halidir. Önerileri için konferans katılımcılarına, makaleyi değerlendiren ve önerileriyle geliştiren anonim hakemlere ve editörlere teşekkür ederim. Makalede ele alınan kitaplara Muteferriqa portalından ulaşılmıştır.

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