Moroccan essayist Mustapha Jmahri has just published his 16th work in the "Les cahiers d'El Jadida" series, titled "Medicines and Doctors in El Jadida, from the Portuguese period to the aftermath of Independence".

This 126-page study, which reveals the health situation in this city for at least five centuries, first looks back at the health status of the city during the Portuguese period before addressing the medical intervention of Europeans from the 19th century onwards, then the French Protectorate from 1912 to 1956, and finally the first years of Independence, reports the MAP.

In the book's preface, Dr Mustapha Akhmisse, president of the Moroccan Association for the History of Medicine and former secretary-general of the Ministry of Health, believes that this chronological progression has made it possible to highlight some essential aspects of public health in the city of El Jadida and the Doukkala region, adding that for a long time, the state of health of the population was intimately dependent on climatic conditions and, for centuries, the health of the Doukkali was constantly threatened by epidemics, major diseases, a flagrant lack of hygiene, and insufficient food.

As in many ports, certain conditions sometimes arrived from outside or via foreigners, it is added, noting that the improvement in the health situation would be noticeable with the Protectorate and Independence, which consolidated the gains at the city level while the Doukkala countryside lacked adequate infrastructure, he notes. From a methodological point of view, the study follows an explanatory and critical approach by giving concrete examples or presenting different opinions, especially when there were some divergent points of view, explains Mr Akhmisse, noting that the objective of this study is to constitute "a general public history" of the art of healing in El Jadida as well as that of its more or less well-known actors, from the Portuguese period to the aftermath of Independence.

It is in this sense that the author, adds the preface writer, has made great efforts to carry out his investigation, for which sources relating to the Lusitanian period are rare and the health archives left by France have been lost.

It is with courage and perseverance that the author was able to gather an impressive documentation that drew on Arabic and French writings as well as testimonies from former health actors in Mazagan, he adds.

The book contains several photos of former doctors and the cover of the book is illustrated with a photo showing the staff of the regional hospital of El Jadida in 1959.