[The American Malaria Program (1941-1946) and its sequelae for biomedical research after World War II].

Abstract

After Pearl Harbor 1941 and the Japanese conquest of the Netherlands East Indies the U.S. were confronted with both a war in the malaria-ridden South Pacific and the loss of the sources of quinine. This situation gave birth to a Cooperative Wartime Program with the participation of national scientific and medical organizations, universities, hospitals, industries, and the Armed Forces. It worked as a flexible system of coordinated and cooperative units subsidized by the U.S. Government. In the course of WWII malaria casualties dropped beyond expectation due to an improved usage of quinacrine (Atebrine) which was based on new knowledge in pharmacokinetics. Furthermore, basic knowledge in malariology was improved, and a mass-screening resulted in new antimalarial drugs, such as chloroquine. The experiences of the Malaria Program were used by one of its chief architects, James A. Shannon, to transform the National Institutes of Health (NIH) into the model medical research institution whose budget for extramural programs also allowed for the nationwide post-war boom of medical research.

• Authors: M H Bickel
• Journal: Gesnerus (Gesnerus) Vol. 56 Issue 1-2 Pg. 107-19 ( 1999) ISSN: 0016-9161 [Print] Switzerland
• Vernacular Title: Das amerikanische Malaria-Programm (1941-1946) und seine Folgen für die biomedizinische Forschung nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg.
• PMID: 10432779 (Publication Type: Historical Article, Journal Article, Portrait)

Chemical References

• Antimalarials

Topics

• Antimalarials (history, therapeutic use)
• Cooperative Behavior
• History, 20th Century
• Humans
• Malaria (drug therapy, history)
• National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (history)
• Research (history, organization & administration)
• United States