19th Century Public Health Action

In the 19th century public health action resulted from a need to address the devastating effects of the living and working conditions imposed on populations during the industrial revolution. The initial focus of public health action was, therefore, on the social and environmental determinants of the health of the population. By the late 20th century, however, there had been a shift in the emphasis of public health action toward modifying individual risk behaviors. However, recent epidemiological analysis of health, disease and disability in the populations of most developed countries confirms the role of social, economic and environmental factors in determining increased risk of disease and adverse outcomes from disease (Townsend et al., 1988;