WJEC GCSE History of Medicine Practice Test

The main idea being tested is that disease in Chadwick’s view came from the living conditions produced by poverty, especially unsanitary housing and environment, not from climate or individual factors. In his 1842 report The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population, Chadwick argued that urban disease and high death rates followed filthy water, poor drainage, crowded and insanitary housing—conditions created by poverty. He used data on mortality among workers to show this link and urged reforms to sewerage, clean water, and waste removal as the way to reduce illness. Climate, diet, and education were not identified as the primary causes in this analysis, whereas improving housing and sanitation addressed the root environmental factors linked to poverty.