Public Health

Question 1

Why did housing get so overcrowded in towns and cities in the 18th and 19th century

Answer 1

Because when the industrial revolution began lots of people moved from the countryside to towns to work in factories but good housing couldn’t be bulky quick enough for everyone to move in so small cramped houses were built instead

Question 2

What was a privy

Answer 2

And outside toilet that lots of people would all share

Question 3

Why were the waters from the pumps usually contaminated

Answer 3

Because nightmen would throw the waste from the privy into the rivers and the water pumps used water from the rivers

Question 4

When did cholera become an eperdemic in Britain

Answer 4

In 1832

Question 5

What are the effects of cholera and how does it spread

Answer 5

It spreads when infected sewage gets into drinking water

It causes extreme diarrhoea

Question 6

What was Edwin’s Chadwick report about that he published in 1842

Answer 6

That living conditions in towns were worse for people’s health than in the countryside
It suggested that the government should pass laws for proper drainage and sewerage systems

Question 7

What act did Chadwick report lead to being acted on

Answer 7

The 1848 public health act

Question 8

What was the 1848 public health act

Answer 8

It set up a central board of health and allowed any town to set up its own local board of health

Question 9

What wa style impact of the 1848 public health act on the public health

Answer 9

It was limited

Only a few towns chose to set up health boards and most refused to spend any money to improve conditions

Question 10

What and when did John snow link together

Answer 10

That there was a connection between contaminated water and cholera inn1853-54

Question 11

How did John discover the link

Answer 11

When studying a cholera outbreak in London he noticed all victims used the same pump and once he removed the handle from the pump the outbreak ended

Question 12

Did snow or Chadwick improve public health

Answer 12

No, not in the long run as the cholera eperdemic returned in 1865

Question 13

What and when was the great stink in London

Answer 13

In 1858 the hot weather caused water levels to drop and bacteria to grow in the waste which produced a disgusting smell that severely affected London

Question 14

How did the great stink cause the cholera eperdemic to end

Answer 14

Because a new London sewer system was appointed by bazalgette and the sewage was no longer dumped in the Thames but into the Thames estuary and the drinking water was actually cleaned unintentionally

Question 15

What 3 things showed the most evidence that cleaning towns could stop the spread of disease

Answer 15

Chadwick
Snow
Pasteur’s germ theory

Question 16

What happened in the second reform act (1867)

Answer 16

It gave nearly 1 million more men the vote most of whom were industrial workers

Question 17

How did the second reform help change attitudes towards health

Answer 17

Now that workers had the vote they could put pressure on the government to listen to their concerns about health and politicians had to address workers concerns in order to stay in power

Question 18

What was the public health act of 1875

Answer 18

It forced councils to appoint health and sanitary inspectors to make sure laws on things like water supplies and hygiene were followed

Question 19

Why was the 1875 act more effective than the 1848 act

Answer 19

Because it was compulsory

Question 20

What was the biggest factor that improved public health in the industrial revolution

Answer 20

The public health act of 1875