Hi Nick,
Thanks for reminding us of characters like Virchow. In addtion to all his medical work and research he was active in politics, a member of the Berlin City Council, of the Prussion Assembly and of the National Parliament representing the "Freedom Party".
Regards Social Medicine, this is a quote:
_Rudolf Virchow's Report on the 1848 typhus epidemic is one of the neglected classics of "social medicine"--a term he did much to popularize.
His analysis of the epidemic emphasized the economic, social, and cultural factors involved in its etiology, and clearly identified the contradictory social forces that prevented any simple solution. Instead of recommending medical changes (i.e., more doctors or hospitals), he outlined a revolutionary program of social reconstruction; including full employment, higher wages, the establishment of agricultural cooperatives, universal education, and the disestablishment of the Catholic Church
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3908347/)_
In 1867 he chaired the Waste-Water-Commision of the Berlin City Council and achieved, against much resistance, that waste water and sewage was eventually transported out of the city in subterranean sewers. This was achieved 23 years later leading to a significant drop in Berlin's mortality rate.
In the national parliament he clashed with the chancellor Bismark on several occasions who at one stage challenged him to a duell which he refused as an outdated means of resolving conflicts. This stand is said to have made him a champion of the liberal forces in parliament.
Best wishes
Martin Becker
CHIFA profile: Martin Becker is a retired Consultant Paediatrician at Cambridgeshire Community (NHS) Services in the UK. He has been involved in establishing and evaluating ETAT+ training in hospitals in Rwanda and Paediatric Palliative Care in Uganda. martin.becker AT nhs.net