Public Health in the 19th Century

Medicine Through Time – Public Health in the 20th Century, 1900-2015

In this course, Professor Martin Gorsky (LSHTM) explores the history of public health in the 20th century. We start by looking at what public health was like during the 19th century and before the creation of the NHS. We have a look at general trends across the century and also look at how both primary and secondary care functioned before the changes of the 20th century. We then turn to examine how the NHS came into being, taking a look at the impact of Wold War Two on its creation. Finally we look at how public health has developed since the creation of the NHS.

Public Health in the 19th Century

In this module, we look at how public health functioned in the 19th century. We start by looking at the general trends in medicine throughout the 18th and 19th century, attempting to explain how the health of people in Britain improved throughout this period. This was largely the result of two factors: (i) economic development; and (ii) public health (particularly in cities). Advances in medical science were less important than what is often assumed.