Mao and Schistosomiasis

Former Chinese paramount leader Mao Zedong (毛泽东) clearly had multi-faceted poetic talents.

In 1958 he wrote two famous poems to celebrate the success of Yujiang in Jiangxi (江西, highlighted area on map)province in wiping out the dreaded disease of schistosomiasis, which is a disease involving snail and liver fluke parasite. The poem was aptly yet unimaginatively named "Bye Bye Schistosomiasis".

But more than a quarter of a century later, the disease had made a comeback.

According to John Gittings, this is due to the private cultivation of farmland which had made it difficult to organize collective efforts to eliminate swampy areas. The decline of free medical facilities had also hindered preventive treatment.

But according to a Chinese media report in 2004, the comeback is due to a massive flooding described as "disastrous" and "rare in history", and which had resulted "in an outbreak of waterborne schistosomiasis in 9 provinces along the river."

The report noted: "According to statistics, there are currently over 100,000 schistosomiasis patients in Jiangxi Province and many domestic animals are infected as well. Millions of people in Jiangxi Province are living in the epidemic area. Their lives and health are seriously threatened by schistosomiasis and many patients are driven into poverty by the disease. Jiangxi faces stern challenges in schistosomiasis prevention and treatment."