A HISTORY OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES IN COLONIAL LAGOS
Authors:
Imayi, Moses
Abstract:
The spread of venereal diseases was a major health challenge that devastated the people of Colonial Lagos and it led to the death of several STD patients. Therefore, this research addresses the level of effective management, prevention and cure of STDs among patients in Colonial Lagos. This work establishes the fact that there were venereal diseases in colonial Lagos and it was due to preponderance of prostitution which came with colonization, poverty which came due to the fact that many had to abandon their farmlands in search for blue-collar jobs, and the burden of urbanization which exposes a lot of the locals, both young and old. This work identifies the negligence and discrimination of the colonial government in handling this scourge as treatment was only given to colonial officers even when it was clear that this was a scourge in the whole of colonial Lagos. By extension, the locals had to resort to using a local treatment. This work studies how the people resorted to local treatment and the eventual use of the orthodox treatment that came with the establishment of the STD Centre in 1954.