Artikel ini menjelaskan tentang derajat kesehatan masyarakat pribumi di Kota Cirebon pada masa kolonialisme Belanda antara 1906-1940. Fokus kajiannya adalah menganalisis derajat kesehatan pada masa modernisasi yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah kolonial Belanda. Kota Cirebon yang semula sebagai kota tradisional/kota kesultanan diubah fungsinya menjadi kota kolonial (modern) oleh pemerintah Hindia Belanda bersamaan dengan pembentukan kota-kota lainnya di Jawa dan Madura pada 1906. Selama paruh pertama di awal abad ke-20, masyarakat pribumi di Kota Cirebon menghadapi proses modernisasi yang berbasis industrialisasi ekonomi. Namun karena seringkali proyek pembangunan tidak tuntas akibatnya lingkungan kota menjadi tidak sehat. Sisa material bangunan, genangan air, galian-galian tanah yang kotor, dan kurangnya jatah air bersih bagi masyarakat pribumi menjadi pangkal kemunculan berbagai bibit penyakit yang menyerang para pekerja dan menular secara luas. Kondisi ini yang menjadi derajat kesehatan masyarakat pribumi buruk dan tidak pernah meningkat. Dalam menangani wabah penyakit pun terdapat perbedaan persepsi antara masyarakat pribumi dengan pemerintah kolonial. Bagi masyarakat pribumi praktik pengobatan didasari oleh pengetahuan agamanya yang kemudian diekspresikan dalam kehidupannya sehari-hari. Oleh karenanya mereka seringkali menolak tawaran sistem pengobatan dan propaganda kesehatan modern yang ditawarkan oleh pemerintah karena khawatir aqidahnya terganggu. Sementara bagi pemerintah kolonial praktik pengobatan didasari oleh ilmu pengetahuan yang berkembang di Eropa. Hanya saja dalam praktiknya, aspek kesehatan modern ini dikaitkan dengan pengembangan perekonomian untuk mengumpulkan sebanyak-banyak keuntungan. Komersialisasi dan diskriminasi pelayanan kesehatan pada akhirnya membuat masyarakat pribumi tetap mempraktikkan pengobatan tradisional yang dipahaminya.

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This dissertation aims to describe the health level of the native people in Cirebon during the Dutch colonial era (1906-1940), focusing on the health level when the Dutch colonial government carried out modernization. The City of Cirebon which was originally a traditional city/sultanate city led by the sultans was changed into a colonial (modern) city by the Dutch East Indies government concurrently with the formation of other cities in Java and Madura in 1906. Through the first half of the 20th century, the native people of Cirebon overcame a process of modernization based on economic industrialization. Modernization was also carried out in the health sector which included policies and eradicating disease outbreaks. However, since there were many incomplete development projects, the city environment became unhealthy. They created leftover building materials, puddles, dirty soil excavations, and caused a lack of clean water for the native people. This condition then became the basis for the emergence of various germs that attack the workers and spread widely. There were different perception between the colonial government and the native people in dealing with the disease outbreaks. For the native people, the health knowledge was referred on their religious knowledge which was then expressed in their daily lives. While for the colonial government, the understanding of health referred to science development in Europe. In reality, this aspect of modern health is associated with economic development to collect as many benefits. The construction of hospitals, procurement of medical devices, and health services are also commercial in nature. The health perceptions of the native people also did not reduce the value of beliefs in their religious practices. Therefore the native people often rejected the offer of medical systems and other health propaganda from the government for they fear that their faith will be corrupted.  So in that condition, the spread of the epidemic of dissidents became widespread in Cirebon.