Early History The control and prevention of diseases as well as the maintenance of healthful environment all over the world is the primary goal of any public health organizations. Care and services often intended towards the elderly, the sick, and the destitute. The creation of communal health organizations may be considered young. Its roots however, extend far into antiquity. It would seem that coping with the problems concerning the protection of the people’s health would often resort to the method of trial and error, as practiced by the common folk of early times.
There are several ancient civilizations that had been recorded that had placed high priority on hygiene. The nomadic wanderings of the Jewish tribes in Biblical times presented just such problems to their leaders. In the Mosaic laws, specific regulations are promulgated concerning infected excretions and secretions, the role of camp sanitation, leprosy, food to be eaten, and so on. Not the least important contribution to the field of hygiene by this folk is the introduction of a full day of rest after every six days of labor.
The prohibition of the use of pork in the diet can be directly implicated in the people’s health when we consider that various health problems can be had with the eating of pork. It also documents the first recorded census, which is extremely necessary in formulating an effective public health program. The Jews observed laws of sanitation and health therefore, that had been handed down to the present day. Somewhat later than the Hebrews in the history of western civilization, the foundations of medicine were laid in Greece.
Public health concern is more or less intimately linked with the growth of the science of medicine. Although the Greeks’ law and custom did not place great pressure on public health rules, Hippocrates (460-377 B. C. ), the “Father of Medicine”, wrote a treatise on “Airs, Waters and Places”, which gave consideration to the influence of environment on health. Thus the Greeks found a relationship between diseases from the air that people breathe the water they drank, and the place where they live. We owe to the Greeks the ideal of a sound body attained through proper physical training, and the construction of a sanatorium.
Subsequently, with the mechanically minded Roman civilization, one branch of public health activity, namely, sanitary engineering, took great forward steps. Vitruvius, one of the great Roman architects and engineers, writing about 25 to 20 B. C. during the reign of Augustus, laid great stress on the abundance and purity of the water supply for a community. The Romans built great sewerage systems and aqueducts which rank as one of Rome’s noblest monuments, depicting their genius and power. The Roman stone aqueduct brought water to the city from the hills some 25 miles away.
This was only one of several. The city of Rome also built a system of sewers by means of which every street in Rime was drained into the Tiber. The largest of these, the “Cloaca Maxima”, is well preserved. At its mouth it is nearly 11 feet wide and 12 feet high. All the larger cities had paved streets and public baths, and some even provided for the periodic removal of refuse. In excavations at the old Roman camps in the outlying colonies, as for instance near Vienna, the military hospitals were found to be constructed along lines almost modern in their sanitary character.
By the Middle Ages, the views and practices of the Roman Empire and the culture of Greece ceased, and Europe sinks into mental sluggishness and darkness. People lived in crowded places inside walled cities and towns. It is not uncommon that cattle and animals were brought inside to live with them. Water supply was often contaminated, and all kinds of waste and filth collected in the muddy streets. As a result, these cities were often devastated by plague and other diseases.
Until the 18th century, epidemics were uncontrolled; the concept of sanitation and clean water supply were practically unknown. During the Industrial Revolution, urbanization and overcrowding arose and with it new problems on health. At the same time, it also brought along with it the material means for widespread sanitary improvements that by the latter half of the nineteenth century, there was a rapid growth of the science of sanitary engineering. In 1851, the first International Sanitary Conference was held in Paris, France.
It was attended by twelve nations who drafted the first treaty that dealt with sanitary regulations. This was followed by a series of conferences. The international conference held in Paris in 1907 created the L’Office Internationale d’Hygiene Publique. Also, the creation of the Metropolitan Board of Health in 1866 in the city of New York opened a new era for public health matters in the US. In 1902, the International Sanitary Bureau was organized. By 1924 it became known as the Pan American Sanitary Bureau. Both became part of the World Health Organization.