Public health in interwar England and Wales: did it fail?
Metadata
Show full item recordAuthor
Gorsky, MartinEditorial
Universidad de Granada
Materia
Salud pública Administración local Inspector de higiene Medicina preventiva Public health Local government Medical Officer of Health Preventive medicine
Date
2008Referencia bibliográfica
Gorsky, Martin. «Public health in interwar Britain : did it fail?». Dynamis: Acta Hispanica ad Medicinae Scientiarumque Historiam Illustrandam, 2008, Vol. 28, p. 175-198, https://raco.cat/index.php/Dynamis/article/view/118812.
Abstract
British historians initially saw the interwar period as a «golden age» for public
health in local government, with unprecedented preventive and curative powers wielded by
Medical Officers of Health (MOsH). In the 1980s Lewis and Webster challenged this reading,
arguing that MOsH were overstretched, neglectful of their «watchdog» role and incapable of
formulating a new philosophy of preventive medicine. The article first details this critique,
then reappraises it in the light of recent demographic work. It then provides a case study of
public health administration in South-West England. Its conclusion is that some elements of
the Lewis/Webster case now deserve to be revised.