Attention for Compliance: Visual Media in Second World War Anti-Malaria Efforts

Malaria casualties severely affected the US war effort during the Second World War. Tens of thousands of soldiers developed sicknesses resulting from inadequate mosquito control and chemoprophylaxis. Much of the operational failure was due to soldier noncompliance with measures and medicines that were effective but far from perfect. An extensive media campaign was conducted in parallel with military and medical efforts to convince soldiers to cooperate with official efforts to control malaria. Different approaches seen in posters and films included trying humorous education, asserting command authority, linking antimalarial efforts to winning the war, and associating avoiding mosquitoes and malaria infection overseas with accelerated return to the United States. Media artists who later became famous (e.g., Dr. Seuss) contributed mosquito cartoons. Eventually medicines, engineering, and media made important contributions to malaria control in the US military during the Second World War.