Industrial Public Health

• Towns

  • cities were overcrowded due to Industrial Revolution
  • back to back housing, diseases spread easily
  • no proper sanitation
• John Snow

  • used innovative techniques such as statistical analysis in making connection between deaths and Broad Street water pump
  • 1855 presented findings to government, recommending improvements to sewage systems
• Great Stink

  • 1858, heatwave made the Thames, that was full of waste, stink
  • affected Parliament, so forced government to act, with Bazalgette receiving £3 mill to install his sewage system
• 1848 Public Health Act

  • first law made to improve public health
  • local boards lacked power to enforce it
  • funding was inadequate
  • laid foundation for future reforms by recognising impact
• 1875 Public Health Act

  • strengthened earlier legalisation
  • became enforced, not just advised
  • mortality rate fell due to investment in local drainage and water infrastructure