Diseases such as smallpox and cholera were widespread in Singapore during its early days as a British trading post. Vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory in the colony from 1868. In the post-war period, the British Military Administration fought the onset of contagious diseases, caused by the deplorable hygiene conditions, by enforcing compulsory vaccination on newborns. People who travelled to and from Singapore had to carry vaccination documents certifying that they were free of contagious diseases.
