"Cholera forcing": The myth of the good epidemic and the coming of good water

C. Hamlin

American Journal of Public Health, 2009, vol. 99, issue 11, 1946-1954

Abstract: It has been frequently claimed that cholera epidemics, both in the 19th century and today, were and can be the key stimulus for procurement of safe water and sanitation, an idea that I call "cholera forcing." "Technology forcing" refers to imposition of exogenous factors that suddenly make possible achievements that had not seemed so; cholera has been seen in this light. I argue that this view oversimplifi es and underrepresents the importance of industrialization in securing water supplies. Careful study of the fi nancial, political, and administrative foundations of such changes will be more fruitful.

Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2009.165688_7

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.165688

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