Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 66-68. (Budapest, 1973)

TANULMÁNYOK - Székely Sándor: Az 1876-os közegészségügyi törvény előkészítéséről (angol nyelven)

Council should as soon as possible have a proposal drafted, providing the ways and means of setting up health committees throughout the country on the model of the British Boards of Health"

15 CONTRIBUTIONS OF JÓZSEF FODOR In this period —about 1870—József Fodor was travelling abroad. He stayed for some time in Munich studying under Pettenkofer, and spent shorter periods in Germany, Austria, Holland and Belgium consulting with others. Finally he studied for some time again the public health conditions and organization in England, together with medical education and facilities for patients in that country. He was then not yet a member of the National Public Health Council (he became a corresponding member in 1875, and had to wait until 1881 for regular membership), yet he was the man in Hungary with the most extensive knowledge of public health. He was familiar with the environmental hygiene approach and teachings of Pettenkofer's school and the initial achievements of bacteriologists, but knew even more about British public health, in those days considered as an example worthy of following. He summed up the observations of his study trip in England in a work published in 1873 and entitled Public Health in England with Regard to Medical Affairs, Medical Administration and Police Duties. Forensic Medicine and the Conditions at Home, which was awarded a Grand Prix by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This work clearly reflected the approach to public health which was already well-developed in Western Europe, but only beginning in Hungary, an approach which is the only way leading to modern medicine. When Fodor went on his study trip in Western Europe, he already had on his mind the preparation of the Hungarian public health act. He hoped that the most eminent men of Hungarian medical science wanted to formulate a law which was based on the achievements of Western Europe and at the same time was more advanced than the legislation there. Fodor prefaced his work with the statement: "In all the educated countries of Europe there is an audible wish for health reforms. Public health is beginning to take the place in society that it merits

. . . As a result of this, the generál public imposes a difficult task on the medical profession. It considers the leadership of the reform the mission of the physician, who is an expert and at the same time a responsible adviser."

16 Fully aware of this responsibility, Fodor studied the British system with the attitude of an expert, in order to take an active part after his return home in the preparation of Act XIV of 1876. 15 Lajos Varga: Op. Cit. Vol. II, p. 488. 16 József Fodor: Közegészségügy Angolországban tekintettel az orvosi rendészetre és törvényszéki orvosi ügyre, valamint a hazai viszonyokra (Public Health in England with reference to Official Medical Duties forensic Medicine and Conditions at Home). Budapest 1873, p. VII.