Corporate Philanthrophy and Epidemics examines the Rockefeller Foundation’s involvement in the hookworm eradication programme in colonial Fiji, framed within the rise of corporate philanthropy in the United States during the late nineteenth century. Influenced by the Social Gospel movement, industrialists like Carnegie established foundations to address social issues. Inspired by this model, the Rockefellers funded the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission to combat hookworm in the American South, a disease dubbed the ‘lazy disease’ for its impact on worker productivity, particularly in plantations.

The success of this campaign led to a global hookworm eradication programme under the International Health Board. Fiji, then a British colony, was selected as a key site for implementation during the 1920s and 1930s, largely due to the efforts of Dr Samuel Lambert, whose prior experience with public health issues in the Pacific informed the initiative. The colonial administration, despite financial limitations, supported the programme. Lambert also focused on Indian indentured labourers, who suffered from poor sanitation. Interventions included improved sanitary measures and borehole latrines.

Although the War curtailed funding and limited Rockefeller’s involvement, the programme drew attention to emerging fields like epidemiology and public health. The case of Fiji highlights the significant role that non-state actors, such as philanthropic foundations, played in shaping global health initiatives.