Tuberculosis in Tanzania with Christoph Gradmann

Christoph Gradmann (University of Oslo) joins Merle and Lee to discuss his new book on 20th century tuberculosis in Tanzania seen through the records of Kibong’oto hospital, the main hospital that treated the disease in the region. The conversation begins with some context about Tanzania and its history during and after the colonial period. As a case study, Kibong’oto is important in two ways that comes across the discussion. First, it highlights tuberculosis as a 20th century disease, as opposed to the 19th century disease that appears in most textbooks. Second, it represents a story about biomedicine under difficult conditions – including patient resistance to certain treatments. In the discussion, Christoph points out some of the sources he uses – such as case books – and the changes in their quality over time. Before conclusion, Christoph also reflects on writing his book during Covid and goes into some detail in discussing Covid in Tanzania.