1 The Rockefeller Foundation and the League of Nations: Cooperation in International Health

The League of Nations Health Organization (LNHO) played a fundamental role in stabilization policies during the Interwar Period. Public health was considered to be the main factor in this historical context due to the consequences of the war, the postwar crash of the economy and many deep international crises. The LNHO was the cornerstone of international action in many health fields: epidemics, the fight against malnutrition and infectious diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, and yellow fever), infant mortality, drug abuse, the definition of standards (biological, dietary, etc.), the production and compilation of epidemiological records, and public health policies and professionalization. In the process of shaping international health expertise, the collaboration of the LNHO with the International Health Board/Division (IHB/D) of the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) was extremely important, both for the definition of goals and programs, as well as financial support. The first contacts between the LNHO and the RF were through the RF’s European office in 1920, immediately after the LNHO was established. In February, Wickliffe Rose, head of the Paris Office, sent a letter to George E. Vincent, president of the RF/IHB and enclosed a copy of a proposed health scheme for the League of Nations. 1 International consensus about the importance of public health experts emerged. These experts had great political influence since health was a prominent social and political category. Public health programs promoted by the RF were based on the creation of expertise in statistical evidence, 2 technical knowledge and practical training in the field. These experts would become authoritative references to state policies and national health services