The 1918 Influenza Pandemic on the Gold Coast: Ghana's Forgotten Crisis

In 1918, the Spanish Flu swept across the globe, killing tens of millions. On the Gold Coast, it arrived via returning soldiers and trade ships, devastating communities from Accra to the northern territories. Colonial authorities, already stretched by World War I, responded with quarantines, travel bans, and makeshift hospitals, but the death toll was staggering — estimates suggest 5–10% of the population perished. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the pandemic unfolded in Ghana: the role of the port cities, the impact on cocoa farming communities, the unequal treatment of African and European patients, and the long-term consequences for public health infrastructure. They also touch on the resilience of local healers and the quiet legacy of the pandemic in shaping later health policies. This is a story of a crisis that hit hard but has been largely forgotten in the shadow of war and independence struggles. #SpanishFlu #1918Pandemic #GoldCoast #Ghana #ColonialMedicine #PublicHealth #Accra #Cocoa #WorldWarI #Quarantine #Epidemic #History #FexingoHistory #WestAfrica #PandemicHistory #AfricanHistory #HealthDisparity #Resilience Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo