How has public health improved in the 20th Century?

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How has public health improved in the 20th Century?

The Industrial Revolution paved the way for many factories and a large, poor, working-class population.  Therefore, at the beginning of the 20th century, Britain had thousands of factories polluting the environment and millions of poor workers living in squalor.  This meant that the most important concerns of public health were better housing and cleaner air.

Housing

In the cities businesses wanted as many workers near to the factories as possible so that there would be less travel time and more time working.  Builders built houses back to back so that they could cut on expenditure and fit more people in.  The only toilets for these houses were at the end of the row, meaning communal, imagine if someone in that row had a disease, then it would most probably be passed to the rest of the people living on that row.  There were no gardens.  This caused major ill health and in 1909 it was banned.  This improved public health because it meant every house would have some open space either at the front or back of their house and they would not have to share bathing facilities, which improved sanitation.

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In the First World War the government pledged the soldiers that it would solve the housing problem and create “homes fit for heroes” when the soldiers return.  In 1919 a Housing Act was passed, requiring local councils to provide good homes for all working-class people.  The government funded the scheme for the first four years and this helped speed up the work.  The “homes fit for heroes” scheme improved public health because it created over a quarter of a million new homes.  

The next step was the “slum clearance” program.  This involved areas of bad housing being ...

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Star rating 3 This essay describes and partially explains three factors that explain how public health improved in the twentieth century. Housing and air pollution, associated with factories, have been considered, and health introduced through the beginnings of the NHS and vaccination. Improvements can be made as is indicated in the feedback provided. There is no referencing nor a bibliography produced.