Healthcare services in Algeria under French occupation 1830-1900 Patterns of discrimination between the Algerian population and European settlers

Abstract

This research paper examines one of the most discriminatory colonial systems imposed on colonized peoples during the nineteenth century, namely French colonialism in Algeria. It sheds light on health policy, particularly the way in which health was used as a means of control and colonial expansion, with a focus on the manifestations of racial discrimination in healthcare services between Algerians and European settlers. The study seeks to uncover the extent of this system’s arbitrariness toward Algerians in the health domain during this period.

The study is guided by the question of how discrimination between Algerians and settlers manifested in health services. It relies on tracing the development of health policy during the nineteenth century and comparing the services provided to Algerians with those offered to settlers, followed by an analysis of some statistics related to discriminatory practices in medical treatment between the two groups, drawing on various sources and references.

The study adopts a descriptive historical approach to understand the historical and social framework within which health discrimination emerged and to trace the development of this policy within its colonial context. It also employs a comparative historical approach through comparisons between the health conditions of Algerians and those of settlers in terms of the services provided by the colonial system, in addition to using a statistical approach through the exploitation of statistical tables and graphs to illustrate this phenomenon.

The article begins by addressing the origins of health discrimination through the views of officials and physicians who openly advocated the use of health as a tool for colonial control rather than for humanitarian purposes. It then identifies the manifestations of discrimination through disparities in the distribution of health expenditures, differences in the allocation of health services, particularly facilities and equipment, as well as inequalities in the distribution of medical personnel and the type of treatment provided within both military and civilian medicine.

All in all, this article clearly shows that the colonial system in nineteenth-century Algeria was deeply discriminatory. From the onset of occupation, public health was used as a tool of control to prioritize the health of European settlers over that of Algerians. Most financial resources were directed toward institutions reserved for Europeans, which were better equipped and staffed, while services for Algerians were limited and poorly resourced. Moreover, settlers received specialized and attentive care, whereas Algerians were often treated by non-specialists, subjected to only basic examinations, and frequently neglected. These practices deprived Algerians of basic healthcare and contributed to their deteriorating health conditions, increasing their vulnerability to diseases and epidemics.

Key words: Racial discrimination, healthcare services, treatment, marginalization.