chapter 9- improvements to public health

• how did housing change ?

  • back to back housing
  • 5 or more people living in a small room
  • few houses had toilets, most were outdoors & shared
• what were the three most common diseases ?

  • typhoid
  • tuberculosis
  • cholera
• what did the industrial revolution lead to ?

  many people moving from the countryside to the city
• how did public health change ?

  • central board of health was set up
  • no rubbish collections
  • links between poor living conditions and rising death rates had been noticed
• when was the cholera outbreak ?

  1848
• what did John snow do ?

  • linked cholera to water by noting those infected drank from the same pump
  • snow removed the pump and the outbreak stopped
• what attitude did the government have ?

  "lasseiz faire"
• what did Edward Chadwick do ?

  • reported that disease was caused by bad air
  • stated that medical officers should be appointed
  • clean water is needed
  • laws needed to improve drainage
• what is miasma ?

  the belief that bad air caused disease
• what was the 1875 public health act ?


  medical officers were appointed for each town
• what was the 1858 public health act ?

  the great stink caused parliament to pay for sanitary improvments
• what did Joseph bazalgette do ?

  built the first sewage system