During the siege of Missolonghi by the Ottomans, the living conditions, including nutrition, hygiene and clothing, of the vast majority of enslaved Greeks could be described as conditions of deprivation and misery. The humid climate and geophysical environment favored the outbreak of epidemics that further worsened the already unfavorable situation of the fighters and their families. Johann Jacob Meyer, a famous Swiss Philhellene, a man known as the first journalist in Greece, along with his Greek wife, contributed to the founding and organization of the first military hospital and to the improvement of the general health care during the siege of Missolonghi (1822-1826).