René Labusquiere (26 September 1919 – 22 September 1977) was a French doctor who pioneered and led the implementation of preventive medicine to combat tropical diseases in Central and West Africa. He was the first Secretary-General of the Organization for Cooperation in the Fight against Major Endemic Diseases in Central Africa (l'OCEAC) and an officer of the

Troupes de marine The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, armoured, airborne, engineering, and transmissions (Signals). Despite its name, it forms part of the Army, not the Navy. Intended for amphibio ...

Career

From 1946 to 1954, Labusquiere lived in

French Cameroon French Cameroon or French Cameroons (french: link=no, Cameroun) was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon. History Beginnings The area of present-day Cameroon came under Germ ...

and

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the U ...

. During this time in Africa, he participated in a mobile bush doctor program with a focus on combating tropical diseases. As a result of this experience, Labusquiere became interested in

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

and enrolled in training programs on leprosy treatment in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Labusquiere was later appointed head of the Department of Mobile General Hygiene and Prophylaxis in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

. In this position he travelled throughout

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

treating leprosy patients in remote villages. During this time he pioneered innovations relating to both early detection and mass treatment. Following the decolonisation of French Africa, newly independent countries sought to implement

preventive medicine Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

policies. Given the countries' limited resources and the distribution and density of the population, such policies were more effective than treatment. During this time, Labesquiere was appointed as the head of the Department of Endemic Diseases of Upper Volta. Four years later, Labesquiere created and headed a successor department: the Department of Rural Medicine and Endemic Diseases. The new department used methods in line with those of international organisations, including the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

and

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

. The new department embarked on a major

measles vaccination Measles vaccine protects against becoming infected with measles. Nearly all of those who do not develop immunity after a single dose develop it after a second dose. When rate of vaccination within a population is greater than 92%, outbreaks of ...

campaign. In 1964, the Ministers of Health of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

and

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

established the Organization of Coordination for the Fight against Endemic Diseases in Central Africa (''Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (l'OCEAC)''). Labusquiere was appointed as the inaugural Secretary-General of this organization. Using international cooperation and funds, the organization advocated for major health campaigns and researched and developed diagnosis and treatment techniques tailored for large populations. In 1970, Labusquiere published the book ''Santé Rurale et Médecine Préventive en Afrique Noire (Rural Health and Preventive Medicine in Black Africa)'', among other works. In 1974, Labusquiere was involved in disproving the effectiveness of the colonial preventative medical practice of 'lomidinisation', which he himself had participated in. After publicly denouncing the injections as "useless, dangerous, and therefore uselessly dangerous," official histories of colonial medicine generally omitted this failed 1950s program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labusquiere, Rene 1919 births 1977 deaths French medical researchers French tropical physicians