Paper 3 Breadth 1 Flashcards
Why did sanitation provide the impetus for change in public health?
- poor conditions in housing- lack of drainage, sewerage, cesspits in streets built up sewage - disease was spread quicker
- ‘night-soil-men’ collected waste and sold it to farmers
- water was expensive and in short supply- people got it from rivers and streams which were contaminated by waste
- cholera was caused by contaminated water (although not known at the time), 22,000 people died from it in 1831-1849 - caused change in public health because lots of people affected
- TB affected those in damp and dirty homes and was spread by a person breathing in air of infected people
Why did housing provide the impetus for change in public health?
- cellars and attics filled with working people - disease spread easier
- new houses were poorly built
- couldn’t plan for the amount of families occupying one house e.g back-to-back housing
- working class lived in slums with up to 5-9 people in one room, disease spread quickly, lack of medical care and increase in population
- workers had to live close to mills/factories due to lack of affordable transport - lots of people came to cities
Why did industrialisation provide the impetus for change in public health?
- population nearly trebled between 1781-1871
- in 1801, 33% of population lived in towns in 1891 it was 72%
- caused overcrowding so disease spread quickly
- advances in technology meant less paupers died from diseases like smallpox- birth rate rose
- population was changing distribution rapidly so didn’t have enough medical supplies to look after this many people
Why did reports into public health provide the impetus for change in public health?
- they formed public opinion and forced the government to act
- 1842 Chadwick’s report was national- gathered information on all parts of the UK and gave an insight, connected dirt and disease - focused on miasma, linked public health to poor law
- 1844 Royal Commission’s report was done by experts e.g chemists, engineers- much more investigative and accurate
HOWEVER - some reports only investigated one area e.g Report of Bradford Woolcombers
- Royal Commission sent questionnaires but they were compulsory so limits accuracy
How did social imperatives provide the impetus for change in public health?
- writers e.g Charles Dickens reached a large audience and sympathised with the poor
HOWEVER he only focused on London because he had experience there - newspapers reported public health- linked poor conditions with disease and gave insight onto conditions. National newspapers had large impact and reached wide audiences
- artists created paintings/engravings or rural and urban poor- disturbing so attracted the attention of many people
HOWEVER only reached wealthy people - scientific knowledge- investigated conditions of the poor, gave insight into conditions and was more accurate e.g Royal Commissions
What is pauperism and what were its main causes?
pauper- a person in receipt of poor relief
poverty- the state of being poor
laissez-faire- the belief that govt should interfere as little as possible
causes: death of the main wage earner/illness of main wage earner
- economic depression in Britain
- when families had no money put aside for illness or emergencies
connection between poverty and public health:
- poor people had a poor diet, lack of clean clothing and dirty accommodation- therefore poor families were prone to infection and diseases e.g TB, Scarlet fever
- couldn’t pay for sewage removal and clean water
- laissez-faire politics means govt had little desire to implement change
What was the impact of cholera and the govt’s reaction?
impact: 40-60% of people who contracted the disease died
- cholera spread very quickly and easily- through food or water, disease-causing bacteria could live for a fortnight
- symptoms were severe and violent- losing water through vomiting and diarrhoea until dehydration and then death
reaction:
- temporary Boards of Health set up- effect of cholera led to reform as it was widespread and lots of people were affected
- issued advice- infected furniture and clothing was to be fumigated, cholera victims were to be put in quarantine
- temporary hospitals set up
What were consequences of the 1832 Cholera epidemic?
- major street riots in cities- people rioted against local medical men as they believed cholera victim’s bodies were being used for dissection
- in 1826, 33 bodies were found at Liverpool docks ready to be shipped for dissection
- authorities gave regulations for disposal of cholera- people attacked grave diggers for objecting to bury cholera victims
What were limitations to govt reaction?
- no knowledge about causes of cholera- therefore Boards couldn’t give accurate advice
- suggested a variety of remedies which didn’t really help
- Boards didn’t have legal right to make people follow them- temporary cholera acts were passed which were compulsory
overall: govt action was limited but they tried to help for the first time
What were theories about the cause of disease?
miasma theory:
- people believed in ‘miasma’ or ‘bad air’ causing disease, believed if people breathe in miasma, they would get ill because miasma carried disease
- this made sense to people as cities had most disease and were the most dirty and cramped
germ theory:
- in 1830 Joseph Lister developed the microscope, meant scientists could observe micro-organisms in rotting material
- germ theory was correct- in 1860 Louis Pasteur conducted experiments that proved micro-organisms existed in air and cause disease
How did developments of flushing toilet systems improve public health?
- George Jennings established a company manufacturing toilets- 97 men and 18 boys working there showed demand
- 1852 Jennings was granted a patent for his invention of an improved water closet
- 1875 Twyford developed a ‘wash out’ water closet which re-filled with water
positives:
- no more cesspits
- 1850- new homes had to be equipped with a water closet
negatives:
- sewage still contaminated water in rivers- caused disease
- mainly for middle class- poor people still had bad conditions
How did developments in water supply improve public health?
- 1829- first water company installed a sand filtration system to purify water from the Thames
- 1838- first pumping station was built on the Thames, this pumped water to filtering reservoirs where it was then pumped to houses
positives:
- more companies built reservoirs to enable reliable supply of water to houses
negatives:
- water companies in London extracted water from polluted rivers that contained fecal waste, there was a lack of knowledge of waterborne diseases
How did developments in sewerage improve public health?
- public health requirements meant waste was not allowed to accumulate on land- rivers were used
- 1842- John Roe invented system of flushing gates to control flow in sewers, would only open when sufficient waste was accumulated
- this was combined with hydraulic pumps in the 1870s/80s
- 1912- sewage treatment developed- was biologically treated to make it safe, stopping disease
positives:
- waste was filtered into sewers- no cesspits or contamination
negatives:
- untreated sewage became a problem- people understood more about disease so Chadwick’s idea of using waste as fertiliser was not well received
How did economic imperatives provide the impetus for change in public health?
- middle class didn’t want to pay for poor people
- landlords raised price of rent which threw more people into pauperism
- cost of poor law was escalating, officials calculated that reform would lower this cost and people would have to pay less in tax
- many said economic imperatives had more impact than any social/moral impact
