Australian postage stamps on it’s medical legends

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Australia, a continent unknown to the remaining world, was formally colonised by the British in 1788. British sent fleets of convicts, and by 1841 they had more than 1,65,000 of them. With each fleet, came medical personnel, and started setting up hospitals. First tent-hospital was set up in area which is now Sydney in January 1788 itself. This hospital had its own building in July, and grew in size over next five decades. Every fleet that sailed to the island from England, brought with it some sick convicts, and some who did not survive the journey.

Early Australian health system was just an extension of the British. By 1850s, health care delivery system was taking shape. Initially with a strong public health system, and later with growing tertiary care hospitals. In 1862, Melbourne was the first medical school, and soon one was established in each state. Thus, the trajectory of medical excellence in Australia is comparatively recent.

Three Physicists who pioneered Radiology

In 1995, Australia issued a four stamp-set featuring its medical scientists. This series had three scientists who established radiology services in the continent. Joseph Slattery was born in 1866 and had moved from Ireland to Australia in 1888. Thomas Lyle was another Irish physicist, who had emigrated to Australia a year later. Walter Filmer, was born in Australia, and after training as a railway electrical engineer, had returned back in 1891. All three had read about Roentgens discovery of X-rays in January of 1896. Independently, they could reproduce Roengten’s work, and in next six months had obtained their first X-rays.

Two Melbourne doctors who studied viruses

Both Jean Macnamara and Macfarlane Burnet were born in 1899 in Victoria, Australia and graduated from Melbourne medical university in 1922 and 1924 respectively. Both are featured together in an Australian postage stamp issued in 1995. Macnamara specialised in Orthopedics, she was an authority on management of poliomyelitis in the pre-vaccination era. On the other hand Macfarlane Burnet specialised in virology, and later in immunology. He received 1960 Nobel Prize for discovery of immune tolerance. Burnet was also featured in another postage stamp-set issued in 2012, featuring Australian Nobel laureates.

First Australian to win a Nobel Prize in Medicine

While Alexander flemming is more famous for his discovery of Penicillin, he had shared 1945 Nobel Prize with Howard Florey. He is featured in two stamp-sets, of 1995 as well as in 2012. Born in 1898, he studied medicine at Adelaide University. In 1920, a prestigious Rhode’s scholarship took him to Oxford. While working on Lysozyme, another enzyme that killed bacteria, he came across Flemming’s work on Penicillin. By 1941, Florey along with his colleague Ernst Chain could purify Penicillin and treat their first patients. By 1943 he and his colleagues had shared their success with various scientists across the world. This work earned Alexander Flemming, Florey and Chain 1945 Nobel Prize. After earning his Nobel, Florey returned to Australia and helped Established Australian National University.

A third Australian Born scientist who won Nobel Prize was Sir John Carew. He graduated from Melbourne in 1925, and like Florey, was awarded Rhodes Scholarship to study in Oxford. He worked at Australian National University, Florey helped establish. Carew received Nobel Prize in 1963 on his work on Neurotransmitters.

Fred Hollows and his Opthalmology foundation

Fred Hollows (1929-1993) has featured in two Australian postage stamps, in 1995 and again in 2012. He pioneered eye surgeries in Australia, as well across developing world. A year before his death, he established Fred Hallows foundation, which supports eye surgeries across the developing world.

Women who pioneered in Australian Maternal and Child Health

Jane Stocks Greig was first woman who graduated in Public health from Melbourne in 1910. She was one of the founders of Queen Victoria hospital for women and children in Melbourne. Kate Isabel Campbell and Jean Macnamara, both graduated in the batch of 1922 from Melbourne, and together worked as paediatricians at this hospital. Kate Campbell discovered that over-oxygenation of premature babies rendered them blind. She was featured in a postage stamp set from Australia in 2012. Fiona Stanley is a living legend, who featured in a 2002 Australian postage stamp. She helped established Maternal and Child Health Research Database in Western Australia, and pioneered role of Population level databases for health planning.

Two Laboratory scientists as Australian Legends

Donald Metcalf, a medical graduate from University of Sydney, discovered natural substances that stimulate growth of Blood Cells. These substances or Colony Stimulating Factors are widely used in cancer therapy. Nancy Millis was a microbiologist who worked win Fermentation techniques. She introduced many such techniques in Australian industries. Both Metcalf and Millis feature in 2002 postage stamp set on Australian Medical Legends.

Surgeons, Dunlop and another two in the 2012 Postage stamp-set

Edward Weary Dunlop (1907-1993) graduated from Melbourne University in 1934, and enlisted in Army a year later. He was captured by Japanese in the Second World War, where he endured hard labour and punishments. As a captive he helped his fellow prisoners of war, endure harsh conditions and survive. He spent his post-war years in charity and community work.

Lastly, we feature two surgeons, who died young. Victor Chang was an acclaimed cardiac surgeon. He pioneered heart transplantation in Australia. Chris O’Brien was a Cancer surgeon. We know him for compassion. He helped establish an integrated cancer centre in Sydney. Sadly both of them died young. Victor aged 55, died in 1991. He was murdered by his kidnappers. Chris O’Brien aged 57, died in 2009. He had Brain cancer.

Compared to its counterparts in Europe, Australian medical system is young. Country is proud of its medical pioneers, and has featured some on multiple occasions. Hope there is more to this list, I will feature as I get more philately materials.