Decolonisation: London’s famous school of “tropical medicine” and its uncomfortable identity

One of Britain’s most renowned medical institutions is grappling with its colonial history and the effects of racism and inequality on its culture today. In the first of a two part series Mun-Keat Looi asks whether its efforts on decolonisation are enough In 2019 the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) put itself under interrogation. The school, at the forefront of global health with a leading role in treatments for Ebola, malaria, and HIV, commissioned a two year independent review of structural racism at its heart.1 Completed in 2021, the review found that the university’s culture and practices “still too often disadvantage people of colour” and that its curriculum remained “Eurocentric.” Staff and students from minority groups felt “unsupported” when experiencing or trying to tackle racist behaviours, and they were found not to have “equitable experiences or opportunities to progress at LSHTM.” Discriminatory behaviour by senior staff went unchecked because of their influence at the institution, the review concluded. “While the conclusions of the review are difficult to confront, facing up to them is an essential step towards creating an environment where everyone’s contributions and perspectives are valued,” says Liam Smeeth, professor of clinical epidemiology at LSHTM who, since the review was first commissioned, has been appointed as the school’s director. But what an institution is—and always has been—is not easily changed. The structural racism review included a separate historical review of the school’s foundations in colonialism. It described in detail how LSHTM owed its existence and development to funding, teaching, and research created to support colonialism—and how patterns of racial discrimination and exploitation were established by this. The review was commissioned under the watch of a previous LSHTM director, Peter Piot, at the tail end of his time in charge. Piot, known as the scientist who …