Problems and improvements in public health

What is the industrial revolution?

A period in the early 19th century when the use of power to run machines led to major changes in how people worked. It also led to the growth of industrial towns

What did the industrial revolution cause for workers?

It caused them to move to new industrial towns.

What was the problem with houses in industrial towns and why was this the case?

Houses were of poor quality because they were built quickly. This happened because landlords felt that workers only needed basic homes and would anyway only be able to afford low amounts of rent (because factory workers received low wages).

What were courts in industrial towns?

They were groups of houses arranged in narrow, dark streets that contained hundreds of people. These were found in poorer areas of industrial towns.

How many people would live in a single house in courts?

50 people or more with a family in a single room

What were the conditions of courts like (see flashcard 4 for what courts are) - 3 points

• Houses were damp with little light or ventilation

• in bad weather, the ground and cellar flooded. a single privy (toilet) might be used by 100 people

  • Water was collected from a local pump shared by 20-30 families. The water was often taken from polluted rivers and not always available

How badly did disease spread in courts (see flashcard 4 for meaning of courts)

disease spread rapidly in these conditions

What diseases were in Britain during the industrial revolution?

• Smallpox

• Typhus

• Typhoid fever

• Influenza

Why did many people who survived the diseases of smallpox, typhus, typhoid fever, or influenza still die?

They were so weak after the diseases that they died if they caught other illnesses like pneumonia or bronchitis.

What was the most frightening disease in Britain at the time of the industrial revolution?

Cholera

What are the symptoms and speed of killing of cholera? What eventually causes a person to die of cholera?

• Cholera killed people very quickly (sometimes within a day)

• General pain

• Muscle spasms

• Extreme vomiting and diarrhoea

A person eventually dies by dehydration.

How many people died in the 1831-32 cholera epidemic?

Approximately 20,000 people died in the cholera epidemic of 1831-32

How did MPs of the parliament try to deal with cholera and what did this show?

They discussed whether to order a day of prayer when there was another cholera epidemic in 1848. This showed their lack of understanding of disease.

Who did the MPs hand the responsibility of cholera to?

The local authorities

What did the local authorities adopt measures against cholera based on? (give an example)

They adopted measures based on the idea of miasma, for example barrels of tar were burned in the street (smoke caused by the burning of tar was thought to purify air).

What did Robert Baker do regarding the 1832 cholera epidemic?

He made a report on the epidemic in Leeds and described the standard of housing in poorer parts of the city

What was the standard of housing in poorer parts of the city Leeds like according to Robert Baker’s report on the 1832 cholera epidemic?

• Many streets were bare earth. The streets became muddy and filth collected in the mud.

• Nineteen streets did not have a sewer. Another 10 only had a sewer covering part of the street.

• Stagnant water created offensive smells

• In some parts, human excrement was collected to sell to farmers. In one yard, there was 75 cart loads of human waste.

What were the attitudes on spending money on the poor?

People resented spending too much money on the poor.

What did Edwin Chadwick’s 1842 report suggest?

he suggested spending tax income on improving poor people’s living conditions
this was so they stay healthy instead of get sick and become too ill to work and need support in a workhouse (which would increase government costs)

What was Edwin Chadwick’s 1842 report called?

The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring population

What were Edwin Chadwick’s recommendations to improve the housing and living conditions of the poor? (3 things)

• Government spending more tax income on improving the conditions

• Providing clean water

• Removing rubbish and sewage

How did people initially react to Chadwick’s ideas? What caused the change?

They were initially not supportive but after further cholera epidemics, which affected middle and upper classes too, they were drawn to hygiene issues more.

What did the 1848 Public health act do? (3 things)

• Set up a General Board of Health

• allowed towns to set up their own local Board of health, employ a medical officer, organise the removal of rubbish and build a sewer system

• appointed three commissioners (people in charge) for the Board of Health (Chadwick was one of the 3 commissioners)

What was Chadwick made a commissioner for from 1848 to 1849?

He was made a commissioner for London’s Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

How far did the Public Health Act of 1848 solve public health issues?

It had a very limited impact

Why was the impact of the 1848 Public Health Act limited? (4 things)

• The terms of the act were temporary - the Board of Health was set up for 5 years, ending in 1854

• The act only allowed local authorities to improve hygiene, it did not force them to do so. So, some local authorities took no action

• Chadwick was a difficult person, arrogant and aggressive. People did not accept his ideas easily, even though over 50,000 people died in the epidemic of 1848-49.

• Many people did not like the idea that local taxes should be increased to help the poor, especially since there was no actual proof that disease was linked to hygiene

What did Dr John Snow do?

He investigated an outbreak of cholera in Soho in London which happened in 1854. He proved that it was caused by infected water. He did this by looking at how the certain pump which certain groups of people got their water from had impacted deaths by cholera.

What further confirmed Snow’s theory that cholera was caused by contaminated water?

When the handle for water from the Broad Street Pump was removed, so that no water could be collected from it, the deaths from cholera stopped.

How did Snow’s work impact other people?

It put pressure on the water companies, local authorities, and parliament to improve water supplies.

How much was done to improve public health (and until when), although the link between cholera and polluted water was now clear?

Very little was done to improve public health until 1858.

What happened in 1858 that caused MPs to pass an act to provide the money for a new sewer system? (4 things)

• The summer of this year was particularly hot

• Rivers began to dry up

• As the level of the River Thames in London began to drop, the rubbish and excrement taken to the river by sewers was exposed along the river banks

• This led to the “Great Stink” and MPs even discussed meeting elsewhere. However they realised wouldn’t solve the problem for the people of London. So they passed an act to provide the money for a new sewer system (designed by Joseph Bazalgette)

When did the most significant improvements in public health begin to happen?

They began to happen after Pasteur developed his germ theory in 1861