There was overcrowded housing, inadequate sewage, poor sanitation, and limited access to water. As a result, diseases such as typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and influenza spread rapidly. In 1832, an epidemic of cholera began to kill tens of thousands and the local authorities became pressured to act. Therefore, Edwin Chadwick, a lawyer and “freelance civil servant,” received the task of investigating remedies. In 1842, after conducting research, Chadwick published a paper called The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population (Sharm &Atri, 2010, p. 17). In his paper, which was impressive because it was before the discoveries of bacteriology and pathology, Chadwick deducted that it was inadequate to spend tax money to merely offer responsive treatment to the sick and it would be better to provide proactive preventive measures such as improving housing and hygiene. Chadwick felt that if citizens had more adequate housing, clean water, and there was a system of removing sewage and rubbish that conditions would improve and illness would be reduced. However, Chadwick’s ideas, which were ahead of their time, received much criticism as this was an age of laissez-faire and governments were not to interfere in the lives of ordinary citizens and businesses (de Arellano, 2009, p. 352-353). However, despite this, Chadwick did successfully manage to induce the first health legislation in Britain, …show more content…
Working through offices in one hundred fifty countries, WHO attempts to battle infectious diseases such as influenza and HIV, noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease, infant and maternity mortality, impurities in the air, starvation, contaminated water, and provides medicines and vaccines to those who need them (World Health Organization, 2017). In addition, WHO prepares a public annual report of recorded information called the World Health Report. The WHO headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland and it has six regional offices. The World Health assembly is the uppermost decision-making body of WHO, and it oversees finances, appoints the director-general, and is comprised of one hundred ninety-three-member states. The executive board led by thirty-four technically qualified health members, provides jobs for about eight thousand health and support workers. “Membership in WHO is open to all countries that are members of the United Nations and accept the WHO constitution” (Sharma & Atri, 2010, p.