The Public Health Of1848in Britain

Public health is an important social problem in the process of urbanization. The public health policy is also one of the most essential aspects of public policy. Public health is not only related to the urban development, but also to the stability of the social order and harmony. Since the industrial revolution, the rapid development of social economy has accelerated the urbanization process greatly, resulting in various social problems, among which the problem of public health is especially serious. During1830s and1840s, facing such a severe public health problem, driven by a large number of public health reformers, the British Parliament passed the1848Public Health Act which marks the central government began to abandon the principles of Laissez-Faire, breaking with the tradition of local self-governance by means of legislative interventions in the field of public health. With respect to water supply, sewage, waste disposal, housing and other issues, the act specifies the responsibilities and obligations of the government. The act also establishes the first public health agency in British history-the Central Health Committee, managing and supervising public health at the national level. Therefore, the act has stricken a way for the British public health reform movement by establishing the direction of its development in the future. This paper is divided into three chapters and their main contents are as follows:The first chapter mainly elaborates the background of the1848Public Health Act which focuses on three aspects:urban environment, disease and the public health management at the time. The paper summarizes the characteristics of British public health conditions, combining historical materials, which are classified into three aspects:living, working and natural environment in the cities. The severe health status in cities is introduced in multi-layers and multi-angles in order to seek deep reasons for the public health reform movement during1830s and1840s. Then the author describes the disease and health conditions of British society in the first half of19th century by separately introducing the infectious diseases, epidemics and occupational diseases of this period, therefore points out their relationship with the public health situations. Based on the argument above, the paper describes the British public health administrative organizations and their operating situations and points out that this management system of traditional agricultural society cannot meet the requirements of an industrialized society.The second chapter mainly discusses the public health reform movement in1830s and1840s and the making process of the1848Public Health Act. First of all, the author introduces the origin, development and achievement of the public health reform movement during1830s and1840s. The paper also illustrates thoroughly the solid social basis of the1848Public Health Act established by this reform movement and how various thoughts on public health springing from the movement became the main resource of the content of the1848Public Health Act. Second the paper describes how the1848Public Health Act was put forward and its main content. Mopaths submitted the bill of the public health to the Parliament twice in1847-48which embodies Chadwick’s thought on public health---to strengthen national intervention in the field of public health and realize centralized management. The last part of the chapter introduces the debate on this bill in the Parliament. Local forces and liberals strongly opposed the bill and they heatedly debated with the supporters of public health reform, which greatly weakened the centralization tendency of the bill.On the basis of the first two chapters, Chapter Ⅲ discusses the impact and evaluation of the1848Public Health Act. First of all, from the point of micro view, how the health committee led the management of cholera and its achievements are introduced. Then from the perspectives of medium level, how the1848Public Health Act preliminarily established the national health system is elaborated. Furthermore, from a macro point of view, the author summarizes the profound significance of this act that it has created a mode of state intervention in public health. Finally, from both positive and negative aspects, the author evaluates the act objectively and ensures its historical position.The conclusion part summarizes the legislation’s origin, process and result of the1848Public Health Act, based on which the author discusses the state’s duties in the field of public health when the country entered into an industrial society.