Kemiskinan Struktural: Penyakit Trakoma dan Masyarakat Miskin di Jombang, 1910-1935

Trachoma is an infectious disease of the eye that can cause serious problems, such as decreased visual acuity and early blindness. Trachoma is known as the disease of the poor, which is suffered mainly by poor people who live in unhygienic environments. As we know, from 1910 to 1934, trachoma experienced a high spike in Jombang due to structural poverty. Furthermore, this article aims to reveal how the poor in Jombang, who did not have the funds to improve their health, were exposed to trachoma from 1910-1935. Based on archival findings and in-depth investigations, this research shows that since the beginning of the 20th century, many small Bumiputra residents in Jombang, such as landless farmers and coolies in private companies, have experienced what is called structural poverty. This structural poverty also caused economic decline and poor health stability. Under such conditions, many of them eventually contracted the dangerous trachoma disease. In response to the disease, the Dutch colonial government brought in Javanese doctors and Javanese eye doctors to entice the poor population to seek treatment at the Mojowarno Christian Hospital in Jombang through Western medicine methods.