public health
conditions in towns, improvements to public health
- Created by: karen davies
- Created on: 10-05-10 17:48
Towns in the early 1800s
- up to 250 people shared one toilet
- up to 10 people might share one room
why were conditions so poor?
- houses could not be built fast enough to cope with people arriving from countryside
- no building regulations
- no proper drainage
- no clean water
- 'jerry' built
- back to back houses
- cheap poor quality material
- drains usually open ditches
- cesspits would overflow
- water pumps were often contaminated
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why were death rates in the towns so high?
- population quadrupled 1801 - 1901
- urban population rose from 25% in 1801 to 75% in 1901
- laissez faire attitudes of governement
- rich thought it was the fault of the poor
- poor expected filthy conditions
- towns had complicated rules and regulations
- rate payers did not want to pay for improvements
- people did not understand what caused disease
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Cholera
- symptoms - vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, skin turns blue
- 1831 - 13,000 people died in 3 months
- no agreement on how it spread
How was the problem solved?
- John Snow found link between polluted water and disease
- investigated 500 deaths near to a water pump in Broad St.
- Snow ordered removal of pump handle
- no new cases
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Why did some people think public health needed imp
- series of reports in 1830s and 40s brought problems to attention of well-off
- people began to realise 'they were living on a dungheap'
- Edwin Chadwick wrote Report on the sanitary Conditions of hte Labouring Population of Britian which horrified people
- collection of proper statistics for births and deaths began - showed high death rates
BUT
change still very slow to come even though there was another serious cholera outbreak in 1844
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Public Health Act 1848
- set up a General Board of Health
-
- the Board could create local Boards of Health if 10% of population asked for it or the death rate was above 23 per 1,000
- Boards could control water supplies, cemeteries, sewage and drainage
BUT
- Act made little difference
- could not force towns to improve
- General Board of Health closed down
- one sixth of the population was covered by local boards of health
- many slum dwellers had no water supply
- if there was a water supply people couldn't always afford it
- open sewers still ran down street
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Any improvements?
- Sir John Simon - chief medical officer for London
- proved death rates could be lowered if the water supply was clean
- rubbish collected from streets
- cesspools drained
Other Acts
- sanitary act 1868 - forced local authorites to appoint sanitary inspectors
- local government board 1871 - set up to oversee all local public health services
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Public Health Act 1875
- every area had to have a medical officer and sanitary inspector
- councils given powers to build sewers, drains and public toilets
- refuse had to be collected
- water supply controlled
- local authorities could disinfect houses if someone had caught an infectious disease
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Were housing conditions improving in the 19th cent
The Housing Act 1868
- landlords had to keep houses in good repair
- council could force landlords to repair houses
The Artisans' Dwelling Act 1875
- local authorities had power to clear areas of bad housing
- building regs for new houses
Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890
- authorities could demolish slums and build council houses
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But progress was still slow because...
- local authorities did not like asking ratepayers to pay towards better housing for the poor
- government did not provide money to build council houses
- housing in slums not replaced - more overcrowding
- back to back houses continued to be built
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Individuals who helped
Octavia Hill
- bought and repaired slums in London
- tenants taught importance of cleaning
George Cadbury
- built model village of Bournville - gardens, leisure facilities - taller children
William Hesketh Lever
- model village - Port Sunlight
Joseph Chamberlain Mayor of Birmingham
- bought 40 acres of factories and slums - moved factories to suburbs and built decent housing
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