Public Health Act of 1879
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Other short titles | Bureau of Public Health Act, 1879 |
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Long title | An Act to prevent the introduction of infectious or contagious diseases into the United States, and to establish a National Board of Health. |
Nicknames | National Board of Health Act, 1879 |
Enacted by | the 45th United States Congress |
Effective | March 3, 1879 |
Citations | |
Public law | Pub. L. 45–202 |
Statutes at Large | 20 Stat. 484 |
Legislative history | |
Public Health Act of 1879 or National Board of Health Act, 1879 was a United States federal statute authorizing the creation of the National Board of Health. The Act of Congress was an appeal for a national public health organization and national quarantine system for purposes of contagious or infectious diseases discovered in nineteenth century America. The United States public law sanctioned the newly formed National Health Board and Academy of Sciences to provide reports concerning public health information with regards to the Perpetual Union or States for the purposes of;
☆ Isolation or quarantine of contagious diseases or disease outbreaks |
☆ Hygiene and sanitation for domiciles or States administrative divisions as related to inland and maritime provinces |
Provisions of the Act
[edit]The forty-fifth United States Congress authored the public law as four sections sanctioning the needs for conformity concerning public health incidences, uniformity of incident reports, and a national public health organization.
- Sec. 1 - Creation of National Board of Health
- Consist of seven members
- Appointed by the President
- Advice and consent of the Senate
- Not more than one of whom shall be appointed from any one State
- Compensation of civilian members
- Ten dollars per diem
- Meetings
- Meet in Washington within thirty days after the passage of this Act
- Meet for special examinations and investigations at any place or places within the United States, or at foreign ports
- Meet as deemed best, to aid in the execution of this Act and the promotion of its objectives
- Consist of seven members
- Sec. 2 - Duties
- Obtain information upon all matters affecting the public health of the States
- Advise several departments of the government, executives of several States, and Commissioners of the District of Columbia
- Opinion of the board and advice to the preservation and improvement of public health for the States
- Sec. 3 - Report
- National Board of Health and Academy of Science to report directly to Congress at its next session
- Full Report concerning statement of transactions and plan for a national public health organization
- Plan shall be prepared after consultation with principal sanitary organizations and sanitarians of States or United States
- Plan shall have special attention to the subject of quarantine, both maritime and inland
- Plan for State or local systems of quarantine and a national quarantine system
- National Board of Health and Academy of Science to report directly to Congress at its next session
- Sec. 4 - Appropriation
- Appropriation of fifty thousand dollars for the purposes of this Act
- Salaries and expenses for National Board of Health
- Appropriation to carry out this Act
- Appropriation of fifty thousand dollars for the purposes of this Act
United States quarantine stations of 1888
[edit]The 50th United States Congress passed legislation to enhance and improve the quarantine service for nineteenth century America. In 1888, public laws were enacted by the 22nd President of the United States Grover Cleveland which established eight quarantine stations for the United States coast to coast territorial waters.[1][2]
- Cape Charles, Virginia
- Port Townsend, Washington
- Delaware Breakwater
- San Diego Harbor, California
- Gulf of Mexico, formerly Ship Island
- San Francisco, California
- Key West, Florida
- Sapelo Sound, South Atlantic
See also
[edit]- Asymptomatic carrier
- Public Health Reports
- Emerging infectious disease
- Self-supply of water and sanitation
- Marine Hospital Service
- Water supply and sanitation in the United States
- Occupational hygiene
- Waterborne diseases
- Passenger Act of 1882
- Yellow Fever Commission
- Cholera
- Tuberculosis
- Scarlet fever
- Typhoid fever
- Smallpox
- Yellow fever
References
[edit]- ^ "Ship Island Quarantine Station Act, 1888" [An Act to authorize the removal of the quarantine station from Ship Island, Mississippi.] (PDF). P.L. 50-20 ~ 25 Stat. 43. USLaw.Link. March 5, 1888.
- ^ "Quarantine Stations and Service Act, 1888" [An Act to perfect the quarantine service of the United States.] (PDF). P.L. 50-727 ~ 25 Stat. 355. USLaw.Link. August 1, 1888.
Bibliography
[edit]- Winslow, Charles-Edward Amory (1911). "Industrial Hygiene". Internet Archive. Boston, Massachusetts: Health Education League. OCLC 52299319.
- Winslow, Charles-Edward Amory (January 9, 1920). "The Untilled Fields of Public Health". Science. 51 (1306): 23–33. Bibcode:1920Sci....51...23W. doi:10.1126/science.51.1306.23. JSTOR 1645011. PMID 17838891.
- The Future of Public Health. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. 1988. pp. 56–72. ISBN 978-0309581905. OCLC 639896452.
External links
[edit]- Michael, Jerrold M. (2011). "The National Board of Health: 1879–1883". Public Health Reports. 126 (1). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 123–129. doi:10.1177/003335491112600117. PMC 3001811. PMID 21337938.
- Woolley, John T. (April 4, 2020). "Presidents and Contagious Disease" [The Evolution of Presidential Leadership in Confronting Contagious Diseases]. The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
- "A History of the Public Health System". National Center for Biotechnology Information - U.S. National Library of Medicine. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- "Guardians Of Our Country's Health". Internet Archive. Frith Films. 1950.
- "Mississippi Quarantine Stations". National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior.
- "Quarantine Station". National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior.