How and why was the 1875 Public Health Act an improvement on 1848?
This essay will argue that the 1875 Public Health Act made a great improvement to general health in Great Britain. Due to the notorious disease known as Cholera in 1848, Public Health Services decided that it would be for the better to set up boards of Health to areas which were in favour of this new Act.
The General Board of Health was constructed boasting experienced members such as Chadwick, Shaftesbury and Lord Morpeth. This Board stated that if the death rate reached twenty three out of one thousand people in any town or city, then that town or city was led into compulsory improvements of the area. Also, the area could opt to have this treatment on their local area.
When the area was put under this treatment, the local council (assuming there was one) would take on the “powers” of the Local Board of Health. The powers patrolled and cleaned previous problems such as sewage, drainage, roads, slaughter-houses, lodging-houses, water supplies, parks and cemeteries. This Board of Health also insisted that every new household should have at least one private toilet or privy. The older houses were all connected to a drain or cesspit so that all of the waste could be disposed of in a more hygienic manner, rather than throwing the waste out of their window, most probably landing on somebody on the way down, and then possibly hoping that the waste would slowly run down to the local cesspit at the end of every street of houses. Now, the inhabitants could merely send their waste directly to the local cesspit, thus, a lot less people got covered in the waste (which was one of the key causes of Cholera), and a lot less (if any) waste was running through the middle of the streets. Although the old houses and new houses were being upgraded, in the new houses, the Board of Health then required that no house was to have a cellar (where people would probably end up living in). These cellar houses provided very poor conditions for the inhabitants as they were living very near to where the waste fell through the ground.