Industrial: Improvements to Public Health Flashcards
What was cholera nicknamed?
‘White death’
Why was cholera called ‘white death’?
It infected the lungs and made people cough up white liquid
How did housing spread illness in the 18th-19th Century?
Housing was back-to-back and cramped
Give an example of the population boom from the 18th-19th Centuries.
Sheffield.
1750: 12,000
1850: 150,000
What did many families/houses not have?
Private toilets
What was often used instead of toilets?
Buckets
Why were the streets so unclean?
Sewage, human waste was dumped into and ran down the streets
Why was water so unclean?
Water came from the rivers where the waste was dumped into.
How many people did cholera kill in 1831?
Around 50,000
What happened to cemeteries during the cholera outbreak?
They were overpopulated, many had to close
Who was John Snow?
A Scientist who discovered the cause of cholera.
What did John Snow use to map first discover the cause of cholera?
Snow used maps to map cholera deaths - they were found to be near water pumps
What was the Broad Street Pump?
The pump that John Snow removed the handle of
What did removing the Broad Street Pump handle do?
People could no longer drink the contaminated river water so public health improved
What happened in 1839?
The government decided to act and start a public health reform
Who was Edwin Chadwick?
The man who started an inquiry into living conditions in London.
What was the Great Stink?
When a heatwave caused the contaminated River Thames to smell worse than ever.
When was the Great Stink?
Summer of 1858
Who was Joseph Bazalgette?
The man who designed the London sewage system.
Why was the sewage system much better?
It pumped the sewage out to the sea instead of the Thames
How much did the London sewage system cost to build?
£3 million
When was the London sewage system finished by?
Sewers complete by 1866
What happened after the sewage system was introduced?
Cholera never returned to London, public health improved
When was Chadwick’s report published?
1842
When was the first Public Health Act introduced?
1848
Name 2 things the Public Health Act of 1848 introduced.
First step to reformation:
1. Set up General Board of Health
2. Set up a local board of health for communities.
When was compulsory vaccination introduced?
Vaccination was made mandatory from 1858.
What was the Sanitary Act?
Made local councils responsible for sewers, water and street cleaning.
Each town was given a health inspector.
When was the second Public Health Act introduced?
1875
What did the Second Public Health Act introduce?
From 1875:
1. Local councils appointed medical officers
2. Councils had to keep sewers in good condition, supply fresh water and keep streets clean
