The Syrian Medical Aid Association: British philanthropy in the Near East.

The Syrian Medical Aid Association (SMAA), created by British philanthropists and medical men in the 1840s, represents one of the earliest attempts by a secular organization to transmit Western medicine to a part of the world deemed to be in need of assistance. Its founders, convinced of the need for well-trained physicians, drugs, and equipment in Syria and hopeful that the introduction of scientific medicine would facilitate the introduction of other English "blessings", expected long-lasting benefits for the Syrians and closer relations between England and the people of the Near East. Despite their fervour and their certainty of the importance of the cause, they failed to anticipate the difficulties inherent in such ambitious plans and after a few years were forced to terminate their efforts. The precursors to the SMAA were the agents of the great trading companies, army and navy surgeons and missionaries who had provided occasional medical aid in the "benighted areas" ofthe world.2 However, health care was not the primary purpose of the sponsoring organizations and the incidental aid which was rendered was not expected to have much impact on the lives of the population at large.3 Few of the missionaries were medically trained, and in any case they were generally more