The scourge that fell...
The hospital
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are spread to people through the bites of a certain type of female mosquitoes. In Greece, due to the existence of swamps, malaria was endemic since antiquity and remained so until 1960. In 1905, the institution named the “Greek Anti-Malaria League’’ was founded in Athens, and in consequence the epidemic was significantly decreased thanks to the massive use of quinine that was distributed to the affected population. However, the national disaster, the result of the Greek-Turkish war of 1922, and the influx of 1,300,000 Greek refugees that fled from Asia Minor to Greece changed the epidemiological map of the malady. From 1930 until the outbreak of World War II, the Greek State launched a second anti-malaria assisted by the Rockefeller Foundation. However, the advent of war and the German Occupation destroyed the existing services against malaria. In 1945, the third and successful effort of the Greek authorities and the U.N.R.R.A. (United Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) began and lasted until 1960. This program whose aim was the eradication of malaria was based on DDT spraying. Finally, in 1974, Greece was declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization.
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