"At least the Belgians built hospitals"

‘At least the Belgians built hospitals’ - This is probably one of the most frequently used clichés in today’s public debate on Belgian colonial history and decolonization decolonization. Voices defending the Belgian colonial legacy portray colonial healthcare as a model of order and efficiency, contrasting it sharply with the country’s present-day health crisis. Althoug not entirely unfounded – the network of health infrastructure in the Belgian Congo was indeed more extensive than in many other African colonies – such slogans remain rooted in colonial propaganda, through which the colonial state sought to billboard Belgian Congo as a medical “model colony”. Through in-depth archival research into the history of colonial hospital infrastructure on three scales – the territory, the city, and the hospital – this PhD research seeks to uncover the reality behind the myth.