Soldiers’ venereal diseases drained the fighting force in Syria

Evidence

The difficulties encountered by the health authorities in controlling the spread of disease among the soldiery, as well as providing them with some medical services, were caused in the first place by the serious structural problems that were endemic to the entire medical establishment, and that were most clearly seen in the military field hospitals. … There are a number of reasons for choosing these two diseases. First, and most obviously, these were diseases that the authorities themselves were very concerned about both because of their high incidence and because they required a long period of treatment which meant significantly reducing the strength of the fighting force. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1121