The Public Health Act of 1848

BMJ 1998;317:549-550 ( 29 August )

Editorials

The Public Health Act of 1848

The act's qualities of imagination and determination are still needed today

Editorial p 550 Recent advances p 584 Education and debate pp 587 -98

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The 1848 Public Health Act is 150 years old. Its context, origins, content, and compromises are extensively reviewed in thisissue by Hamlin and Sheard (p 587).¹ It was an exercise ineffective politics, technically remarkably well informed, yetalso an imaginative legislative attempt to deal with some stillvery current issues. How can the best technical public healthcompetence be created in both the essential aspects of the publichealth discipline $---$ knowledge and action? How can this technicalcompetence be allied to effective combinations of central andlocal governance and administration? What is the role of law,and enforcement? How can the multisectoral content of public healthbe addressed? How can communities and individuals best be involved?How can private and corporate influences be brought on board?Above all, how can public health be made to count? These are formidablequestions, yet the act shows what can be achieved with imagination. . . [Full text of this article]