Public Health Flashcards
Medieval towns
No sewage systems/fresh water
Houses were made of wattle and daub and overhung the street
Rats, lice and fleas
Threw garbage and human waste
Coventry Middle Ages
1421- every man had to clean in front of his house, 12p fine if not
1420- waste was collected from shops and houses
1427- 5 specific waste disposal areas
1421-75, banned waste in the river Sherborne 9 times, all latrines over Red Ditch
Why it didn’t improve in Middle Ages
People had no knowledge of causes
Latrines were emptied into rivers
Rubbish made it impossible to clean streets
Bathed rarely
Government didn’t see public health as a priority
Early modern
Henry VII passed a law to put slaughter houses inside city
Henry VIII gave towns the right to make a tax for sewers
1547- couldn’t go to the toilet in towns/courtyards
1666- great fire of London, new law to stop fire spread
1690- another act for street cleaning
Industrialisation (19th century)
Huge migration to cities and towns
Government had a laissez-faire attitude
1842- average death for labourers in country was 38 and 17 in cities
1851- more in towns than country
Great Clean Up (19th)
1848- cholera killed 52,000, public health act in 1848- Chadwick and “clean party” let councils improve conditions in their own town if they wanted
1872- 50 councils had a medical officer of health.
Housing Act 1875- councils knocked down poor housing and replaced
Public health act 1875- forced to provide clean water, medical officers of health, sanitary inspectors
Rich (19th century)
had little sympathy
The poor were to blame
Could afford night soil men, didn’t want to pay more taxes
Birmingham (19th century)
1840s and 50s in a bad state
1873- chamberlain made mayor “gas and water socialism”- government in charge of all gas and water
1879- made enough profit to make a park
25.2 per 1000 to 20.7 per 1000 death rate on 1880
Birmingham improvement act of 1876, slum clearing
Public health act 1875
Forced councils to carry out improvements
1875- artisans dwellings Act, clear slums and build better homes
1876- sales of food and drugs act, no harmful substances in food
1876- laws against pollution of rivers
1878- Epping forest in London made a public space
19th century results
Mixed results
1900- life expectancy below 50 and 65/1000 infants dies before their first birthday
20th century
1889- Charles booth showed that 35% of Londoners we living in poverty “Life and labour of the people”
1901- Seebohm Rowntree showed that half of York was in poverty
Boer War 1899-1902 showed that 1/3 who volunteered to fight were rejected due to poor health
changes (20th)
Housing act 1919- 500k houses “fit for heroes” after WW1
1939- 1m homes built, 1945 1m more
Dec 1952- killer smog in London, 12,000 died, 100,000 ill. Clean air acts of 1956 and 58, coal to gas and electric
Limited factory and car emissions
27,000 still die each year due to air pollution
Changes pt2 (20th)
Built new towns to stop overcrowding
Letchworth 1903, Milton Keynes and telford
Spacious homes, gardens, parks, 2014, 2.7m lived there
1960s, slum clearance. Unfit housing knocked down, flats instead
21st century
Government spending more on educating about healthy lifestyles
“Healthier Hackney fund”, communities ask for funds to aid health
“Be active”, free leisure in Birmingham
“Five a day” and eat well plate, carbohydrates, protein, 6-8 glasses of water, little fat
Couch to 5k is a guided fitness programme
Titus Salt (19th)
Had a business in Bradford, 200 factories, life expectancy of 20
Set up soup kitchens in 1843
