Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, Tamil Nadu, India.
Natl Med J India. 2024 Mar-Apr;37(2):101-108. doi: 10.25259/NMJI_420_2023.
The Epidemic Diseases Act (EDA) was enacted in February 1897 by the Government of India to prevent and control the spread of the plague. Since then, the Act has become a key legal tool for the control of epidemics/pandemics in India. We attempted to understand the international and domestic pressures that led to the adoption of the EDA in three ways. First, we analyse the legislative structure (Bombay Municipal Act of 1888, Indian Railways Act of 1890, and Act I of 1870) that dealt with infectious or contagious diseases in colonial India before the EDA came into force. Second, we focus on the linkages between international and domestic pressures that necessitated the adoption of the EDA. Third, we analyse the discussions of the Council of the Governor General of India on the bill titled 'A Bill to Provide for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous Epidemic Diseases', which later became the Epidemic Diseases Act No. III of 1897. We situate the EDA in an international context of International Sanitary Conferences, quarantine, trade concerns, and pilgrimage to Mecca in order to understand the pressures that impacted British epidemic policy formation in colonial India.
《传染病法》（Epidemic Diseases Act，简称 EDA）于 1897 年 2 月由印度政府颁布，旨在预防和控制瘟疫的传播。自那时以来，该法案已成为印度控制传染病/大流行的关键法律工具。我们试图通过三种方式了解导致 EDA 采用的国际和国内压力。首先，我们分析了 EDA 生效前印度殖民地处理传染病或接触传染病的立法结构（1888 年的《孟买市法案》、1890 年的《印度铁路法案》和 1870 年的法案 I）。其次，我们关注国际和国内压力之间的联系，这些压力需要采用 EDA。第三，我们分析了印度总督委员会关于题为“提供更好的预防危险传染病传播法案”的讨论，该法案后来成为 1897 年的《传染病法》第三号。我们将 EDA 置于国际卫生会议、检疫、贸易关注和麦加朝圣的国际背景下，以了解影响英国在印度殖民地制定传染病政策的压力。
