B2319th

Theme: The influence of sanitation and health care practices on society


 * Edwin Chadwick- 1892**

Edwin Chadwick, a British commissioner, was a Benthamite, following Jeremy Bentham. Both philosophers believed that one should deal with a public problem by finding a solution that will result in the “greatest good for the greatest number.” Through enforcement, Chadwick attempted to clean the urban environment to prevent disease. In 1842, he collected reports from Poor Law officials on the sanitary conditions of the working population, and published his observations. His data showed the correlation between disease and dirty environments. Especially after the occurrence of the cholera epidemic in 1846, Chadwick’s published report was emphasized in Great Britain, and cities built several sanitary systems. Water supplies and sewerage systems were all improved throughout Great Britain. Although his miasmatic theory, of people contracting disease only because of breathing in bad odors, was not completely valid, Chadwick’s findings and actions still reduced the number of sources of spreading filth, which in turn reduced many diseases across the nation. "AHI: United States �  The ecology of a slum: Part 4, family flows." __Affordable Housing Institute__. 13 Apr. 2009 . McKay, John P. __A History of Western society__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.