對蚊子宣戰：二次戰後台灣根除瘧疾的科技與社會研究

After World War II, the World Health Organization promoted the use of residual DDT spraying to eradicate malaria. Taiwan was one of the very few countries to successfully eradicate malaria and to stay malaria-free for many years. In this study, I took the Science, Technology and Society (STS) perspective to review the Taiwanese history of malaria eradication, starting from the Japanese colonial period up to the USAID after WWII, as well as the scientific controversies surrounding malaria control. I explored the ”war against mosquitoes” from the phases of preparation, attack, consolidation, and maintenance, and re-analyzed the malaria mortality and morbidity data to elucidate the social and historical context of malaria eradication in Taiwan. I suggest that the malaria eradication efforts in Taiwan had indeed continued from the Japanese Colonial period. There were entomological studies, parasite-examining techniques, medication, and anti-malaria public health systems. During the post-war period, the WHO, US and Taiwanese governments spent a lot of money and manpower to support DDT residual spraying. Other than treating the patients and the mosquitos, Taiwanese people were not allowed to travel under marshal law, and An. Minimus retreated because of the ecological changes in Taiwan. Furthermore, the prevalence of malaria in Taiwan had dramatically dropped before DDT spraying began in 1952. DDT was a boundary object in the post-war global malaria eradication program. While the standardized house-spraying methods could not apply to many countries during this time, there were human and non-human actors forming to consolidate malaria eradication networks in Taiwan. This study aims to retell the Taiwan story on the international level. Social world theory helps clarify the multiple social characters of objects, and may contribute to global public health policies.