Title An ambulance on safari : the ANC and the making of a health department in exile / Melissa Diane Armstrong

Published Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2020]

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 311 pages) : illustrations, maps Series McGill-Queen's/Associated Medical Services studies in the history of medicine, health, and society ; 53 McGill-Queen's/Associated Medical Services studies in the history of medicine, health, and society ; 53. Contents "Some Kind of Government-in-Exile": From Medical Sector to Department of Health, 1962 to 1990 -- "We Shall Continue to Treat ANC Patients at All Our Hospitals": Cooperation between the Health Department and Its Southern African Hosts -- Exposing "Policies of Genocide": The Health Department's Role in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1977 to 1990 -- "The Ambulance is on a Safari": Primary Healthcare Delivery in Southern Africa, 1977 to 1990 -- "It Was a World of Paranoia": The Mental Health Crisis in Exile Summary "During the apartheid era, thousands of South African political activists, militants, and refugees fled arrest by crossing into neighbouring southern African countries. Although they had escaped political oppression, many required medical attention during their period of exile. An Ambulance on Safari describes the efforts of the African National Congress (ANC) to deliver emergency healthcare to South African exiles and, in the same stroke, to establish political legitimacy and foster anti-apartheid sentiment on an international stage. Banned in South Africa from 1960 to 1990, the ANC continued its operations underground in anticipation of eventual political victory, styling itself as a "government in waiting." In 1977 it created its own Health Department, which it presented as an alternative medical service and the nucleus of a post-apartheid healthcare system. By publicizing its own democratic policies as well as the racist practices of healthcare delivery in South Africa, the Health Department won international attention for its cause and provoked widespread condemnation of the apartheid state. While the global campaign was unfolding successfully, the department's provision of health care on the ground was intermittent as patients confronted a fledgling medical system experiencing various growing pains. Still, the legacy of the department would be long, as many medical professionals who joined the post-apartheid Department of Health in South Africa had been trained in exile during the liberation struggle. With careful attention to both the international publicity campaign and on-the-ground medical efforts, An Ambulance on Safari reveals the intricate and significant political role of the ANC's Health Department and its influence on the anti-apartheid movement."-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on September 24, 2020) Subject African National Congress. Health Department -- History -- 20th century Medical care -- South Africa -- History -- 20th century Health Services -- history History, 20th Century MEDICAL -- History. Medical care SUBJECT South Africa https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D013019 Subject South Africa Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780228004233 0228004233 9780228004240 0228004241 9780228003298 0228003296 9780228003304 022800330X

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