Problematizing Prophylaxis: Tuberculosis and the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccine in American Colonial Philippines

This presentation explores the contested views on effective tuberculosis prevention in the American Colonial Philippines. Its target audience is students and staff interested in the history of tuberculosis prevention, as well as the broader history of colonial medicine.

From the mid to late 19th century, American physicians viewed tuberculosis as a disease of predisposition, with bacteria seen as just one of the disease’s many causes. The view came under scrutiny following the synthesis of an antituberculosis vaccine (the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine or the BCG vaccine) in 1928, with its widespread adoption increasingly encouraged by the League of Nations. Despite this, American physicians proved reluctant to adopt the vaccine, both at home and in American colonial territories such as the Philippines

Making use of medical journals, newspaper articles, and editorials, this paper examines how Filipino physicians challenged the reluctance of their American counterparts, calling for a more active use of the BCG vaccine. Through a close and critical reading of these sources, this paper seeks to survey how these physicians nuanced what an effective tuberculosis prophylaxis entailed and drew attention to the limits of hygiene and sanitation policies as effective means of managing the disease. In doing so, this paper argues that Filipino physicians not only extended the parameters of what constituted effective Tuberculosis prevention, but also challenged the practicality and effectivity of the American colonial medical approaches towards managing the disease.