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

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

secretary was Gyula Gerlóczy at that time. The Győr Congress passed a resolution to the effect that the MOT should elaborate its own draft on the improvement of public health. Thus, after the Congress of August 1874 the work continued under the direction of Gyula Gerlóczy. At the same time the National Public Health Council continued to improve its draft. It devoted seven plenary and 18 committee meetings to its perfection and the explanation and justification of the differences. By 1875 the MOT "counter proposal" was ready, and it was submitted to the 18th Congress, held in August at Élőpatak. Once again the committees prepared a number of amendements for the draft, and for this reason the permanent Central Committee was unable to submit a complete draft directly, but it considered it important to indicate the preparation of another draft. Its petition addressed to the Minister of the Interior in October 1875 included the following: "The Hungarian Physicians and Naturalists, having been aware for years of the urgent need for the improvement of the public health of our country, besides having declared this need several times, have not procrastinated their examination of the bill drafted by the National Public Health Council and their consideration of it as the basis for discussion at their Congresses in 1874 at Győr and this year at Élőpatak . .. The detailed deliberation of the bill in question at the two Congresses mentioned and the criticism of this work which was submitted partly on the basis of the principles suggested, soon gave rise to the general conviction at the latter Congress that because of its external and internal deficiencies it would jeopardize the most sacred interests of public health to submit (this version) to a parliamentary debate

... For which reason at their 18th Congress held in August this year at Élőpatak, the Hungarian Physicians and Naturalists unanimously decided at the motion of their Medical Department, and so charged their permanent Central Committee, to submit to your excellency the humble request : with your well-known wisdom kindly consider the public health bill to be prepared by the permanent Central Committee in a short time on the basis of the resolutions passed by the Congress, and have it examined by a committee to be formed of the most eminent experts of the country (enquête) ; and then consider the thus adequately discussed bill, satisfactory in all respects, as the basis for parliamentary debate and submit it to Parliament as soon as possible,"

28 After the Élőpatak Congress, an editorial committee consisting of Pál Fromm, József Kelen and Géza Dulácska set to work feverishly on the preparation of the MOT draft bill. As in the meantime the draft based on the work of the Public Health Council was completed and its text was published in the November 21, 1875 issue of the Medical Weekly, the MOT committee was racing against time to complete the work, and in January 1876 they sent Parliament the bill edited by Gyula Gerlóczy. The report of the permanent Central Committee dated from February 10, 28 A MOT Nagygyűlései. Vol. XVIII. Budapest 1876, pp. 194-195,