Local and national government involvement in public health

Who introduced the 1848 Public Health Act?

It was encouraged by Chadwick as he made a report on living conditions in cities compared to the countryside

What were the terms of the public health act of 1848?

It set up a Central Board of Health to oversee the improvement of public health

What did the Central Board of Health do?

Raise taxes to pay for clean water supplies and new sewage systems (this is because no financial support was given by the government). Although this was optional for some towns and cities, any place with a mortality rate of higher than 2.3% had to set up a board

Why was this 1848 Public health act introduced?

The cholera epidemic of 1848 forced the government to act

What were limitations of the public health act in 1848?

There was little funding and it wasn’t compulsory to most

What was the Great Stink?

Happened in 1858 as a result of sewage and waste being dumped into the River Thames not being washed away quickly as it was a hot summer so water levels were low. This caused a disgusting smell to arise

What were the impacts of the Great Stink?

The Houses of Parliament closed and moved to a location further from the Thames and many people cleaned their walls with chloride of lime to remove the smell (especially since the miasma theory was still widely believed)

Why was there a 1875 public health act?

This happened after John Snow and Louis Pasteur proved that cleaning towns would improve public health, marking a movement away from the government’s Laissez-faire attitude

What does laissez-fair mean?

Translated as ‘leave well alone’, it was adopted by the British government throughout history until the 1870s a the government wanted to interfere as little as possible in social and economic policy as they believed that it wasn’t their responsibility to look after public health

What were the terms of the 1875 public health act?

It forced local authorities to provide clean water supplies, build sewage systems and appoint a medical officer

Who introduced other health reforms?

Disraeli - the British prime minister of the time

What further reforms were there?

1875 housing act, 1875 sale of food and drugs act, 1876 rivers pollution act

What was the 1875 Housing Act?

Brought in improvements to housing quality

What was the 1875 Sale of Food and Drugs Act?

It tightened laws around food labelling

What was the 1876 Rivers Pollution Act?

It aimed to clean up rivers and the water supply

What toilets became more popular?

Flush toilets, especially among the wealthy

How was disease reduced?

The compulsory smallpox vaccination significantly reduced cases of smallpox (and it was later eradicated completely), there were no cases of typhus by 1900 and much fewer cases of cholera