Israel Kligler is one of the reasons Israel exists.
So why have you never heard of him?
Ninety-two years ago, a diminutive and determined
young scientist stepped from a boat onto a
“notoriously malarious” patch of Levantine land and
into the middle of a losing war against a tiny, deadly
enemy ravaging the population.
young scientist stepped from a boat onto a
“notoriously malarious” patch of Levantine land and
into the middle of a losing war against a tiny, deadly
enemy ravaging the population.
Israel Kligler – university professor, Zionist and public health pioneer
– played an outsize role in defeating malaria in Palestine beginning in
the 1920s. Countering the mosquito-borne disease was not a minor
medical success but a crucial victory that paved the way for the growth
of Jewish settlement and the eventual establishment of the State of Israel.
Today, Kligler and his role in Israel’s history have been forgotten.
April 25 is a fitting date to remember him: This year, it happens to be
both the eve of Israel’s Independence Day and World Malaria Day,
marked every year by the UN’s World Health Organization. Thanks in
large part to Kligler’s efforts, malaria was eradicated in Israel, but the
global battle against the disease has been remarkably unsuccessful: Every
year, according to the WHO, malaria infects 216 million people and kills
655,000.
April 25 is a fitting date to remember him: This year, it happens to be
both the eve of Israel’s Independence Day and World Malaria Day,
marked every year by the UN’s World Health Organization. Thanks in
large part to Kligler’s efforts, malaria was eradicated in Israel, but the
global battle against the disease has been remarkably unsuccessful: Every
year, according to the WHO, malaria infects 216 million people and kills
655,000.
Kligler has a small number of vocal boosters, and they believe his success
should both earn him a place in the Zionist pantheon and be studied anew
as the world continues to grapple with the disease he confronted nearly a
century ago. Read the rest on: THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
should both earn him a place in the Zionist pantheon and be studied anew
as the world continues to grapple with the disease he confronted nearly a
century ago. Read the rest on: THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
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