The Audience Experience of Colonial Cinema

Abstract

and global oncology. It is instructive for grounding theories of responsive health systems in cancer management. Mika’s plea for the incorporation of East African expertise in the historiography of biomedicine and cancer patient care is necessary and timely. Mika convincingly presents the social aspects of care, which may be a missing link in the pursuit of quality cancer care in East Africa and beyond; citing, for example, the UCI’s relative success in pediatric lymphoma research and care services, even amidst the disruptions of Idi Amin’s regime, due to the remarkable consistency and sustained patient follow-up facilitated by the staff’s cultural expertise. The implications for institutional policy and decisionmaking when it comes to local practices of oncology are self-evident. Similarly, the book effectively illustrates how linkages of local health systems to global (international) systems, through corporate and state actors defines — and limits — health justice. Mika is correct to note how access to expensive state-of-the-art cancer diagnosis and treatment technology and expertise helps to define the unequal global health system. Mika argues that ‘global oncology’must be a humanitarian exercise that mitigates economic injustice and inequalities in prevention, treatment, and palliation of cancers (141). The language and presentation of the book are accessible for diverse audiences interested in medical history, African history, the historiography of biomedicine in Africa, and global health. Mika offers an important contribution to health systems research and the emerging fields of anthropologies of cancer and medical and health humanities, by linking social science research and the history of medicine. Health policy makers, those interested in cancer care in the Global South, and researchers in science technology studies will also find the book informative. It presents the lived experience of suffering due to cancer and coping with the disease with sufficient consideration of cultural norms. It adequately balances ethical neutrality while safeguarding against ethical indifference, and draws on essential clinical knowledge to present a comprehensive description of realities in the emergent cancer epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. The book is a captivating resource for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary researchers and health care providers, and is enlightening reading for anyone interested in the history of medicine and global health justice.