My Answer:

Public Health was a new concept in 19th century Britain. Not since the Romans had been here had there been government-pushed structure and legislation to how Britons lived their lives. It is no surprise that the government had to become more involved in Public Health in the 19th century as the Industrial Revolution had created a situation where towns and cities were crowded and dirty - leaving people to suffer and die from preventable diseases like cholera. In addition to this, sicientif knowledge was advancing and new discoveries like Jenner's vaccination; Pasteur's germ theory; and Koch's linking of germs to disease all gave grounds for people to push for government actions in the health of the British Public. Nineteenth century Britain did not play a large part in Public Health until the later part of the century and each step they took was protested by many.
Notice how I have set the scene and briefly mentioned many topics I will discuss and then ended with my answer that I will be proving over the next few paragraphs.

The early ninteenth century the government attitude was Laissez-Faire, the leave them to it philosophy. Politicians simply did not believe that it was their job to invest in Public Health, they thought that problems were caused by laziness rather than surroundings. It was not until Pasteur's theory of germs and then Koch's work linking germ to disease was there proof of how people got sick. I have spoken about attitudes

Public Health provision is expensive. Deciding who pays for things can take a long time, as was the case when Health Boards were established. Ordinary people did not have the vote at the beinging of the 19th century. Rich people tended not to be as affected by epidemics, therefore it was not a priority for them. As the right to vote was extended more pressure could be put on government to intervene and make changes in Public Health. Cost and power

It was only as the era of the Industrial Revolution became more advnaced in terms of scientitfic knowledge that people began to really understand what the true cause of epidemics were. Without this understanding there's a wide range of beliegs about what has caused the spread of disease - and thus a wide range of opinions about what should be done. scientific discoveries

In the 1830s a civil servant called Edwin Chadwick was employed to report on the living conditions and health of the poor of the country. Chadwick's report concluded that much poverty was caused by poor health caused by the foul conditions in which people lived. He said in his Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population in 1842 that "...the most important measures and most practical are drainage, the removal of all refuse from streets and the roads, and the improvement of the supplies of water". Source based evidence to show how changes began to take place

From the mid 19th century onward Britain saw many laws passed to improve Public Health. Although there was much opposition. Despite the improvements, when Charles Booth investigated the East End of Londond in 1889 he found many people livin in appalling conditions of poverty and ill health. From 1881 Infant Mortality actually started to go up again after a decade of progress. I have shown a balanced answer - there is another point of view...

In conclusion, because of scientific developments, statistics, cholera epidemics, new voters, the weakening of laissez-faire, improvements in education and certain cities leading the way, the health of Britain generally improved as a result of the governments increase involvement in Public Health in the later part of the 19th century. However, improvements continue today to eradicate disease and to make sure every child, man and woman in Britain leads a healthy life.
I summarised what I said previously and concluded with a balanced statement.