HISTORY OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Taranaki Daily News, 21 July 1933, Page 3

HISTORY OF PUBLIC HEALTH

ADDRESS TO BUSINESS WOMEN. VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY. The history of public heahh and its value to the community were discussed by Dr. Mary Champtaloup, district officer of health, before the business women’s tea conducted by the Y.M.C.A. at New Plymouth last night, when Miss M. Greenwell presided over an attendance of about 70. Community health was the expression of the phrase “public hygiene,” which was a science caring for the physical well-being of the community, said Dr. Champtaloup. It involved legislation protecting the whole community from the errors of a part of the community. It aimed at the prevention of disease by the removal of avoidable causes and required the co-operation of the people. The progress of public hygiene was apparent in the pages of history as it was a part of the life of every people and nation. The Mosaic laws were more than merely religious instruction; they had a definite influence on the health of the community. Apart from its religious influence the institution of the Sabbath provided, in the light of recent scientific investigations, a definite psychological and physical value in that it gave a regular period of rest and relaxation. Those who contended that the decline in the observance of the Sabbath had resulted in the deterioration of the race were probably more correct than was generally admitted.

Besides their contribution to art and literature, Dr. Champtaloup said, the Greeks had advanced public hygiene. While they kne.w nothing of the causes of disease and accepted pestilence • as a visitation of the Deities, the Greeks had a highly developed system of physical culture. It was not until they fell into ways of luxury that their decline began. The Romans, while leaving the world great engineering works, knew nothing of sanitation. In the England of the Middle Ages pestilence was of common occurrence. The habits of the people and the conditions under which they lived explained that. There was no idea of personal cleanliness, of diet or of proper clothing. The dwellings were filthy hovels and the streets mere .quagmires. There were no facilities- for the disposal of sewage.

In the 12th century there were 15 epidemics, Dr. Champtaloup continued. In the 13th. century there were 20 such outbreaks and in the 14th. the great plague wiped out three-quarters of the population of Europe. The 17th. century saw the people begin to realise the elements of public health. Cause was being associated with effect,' and there was an 1 increased use of vegetables. Soap' was used more freely, so improving personal cleanliness. Names such as Captain Cook and John Howard showed the progress achieved in the 18th. century. By the 19th. century legislation was making its appearance, the increased population making it imperative that the knowledge gained previously should be applied for the preservation of public health. That was followed by a desire for a definite body to control public health.

At the present time the public was protected from many forms of disease, concluded Dr. Champtaloup. Foodstuffs and water supplies were guarded against contamination, with the result that diseases such as tuberculosis and typhoid had largely disappeared. There was a strong surveillance over the, conditions under which industry was carried out. It was necessary that it be realised that the health of the community depended on the extent to which its units followed certain laws of hygiene. The essentials for good health were sunlight and fresh air.

Nurse Peterson proposed a vote of thanks which was carried by acclamation.