“Great is sanitation; the greatest work, except discovery, I think, that one can do … What is the use of preaching high moralities, philosophies, policies and arts to people who dwell in appalling slums? You must wipe away those slums, that filth, these diseases … We must begin by being cleansers.”
Sir Ronald Ross

Since the early years of the 20th century, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has been concerned with the effects of poor sanitation upon health. Through the years, various champions of the benefits of improved and appropriate sanitation have worked at the School. They have promoted a research sector that has had to vie with more ‘funder-sympathetic’ projects.
During 2008 we would like to show you a few of the contributions that individuals and groups within LSHTM have made to the development of current thinking in the sanitation sector, and finally how we would like to proceed from 2009 onwards.

For more detail on those who have been instrumental in promoting work in sanitation please click here.

The Early Days

The slides above show some of the photographs held within the Resource Room of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Environmental Health Group. The images come from a collection of documents amassed by Sir Richard Feachem during his time at the School. The slide show that you will see at the top of the International Year of Sanitation webpage shows scenes from early to mid 20th century of villages in Africa; waste disposal in the United Kingdom and aspects of healthcare in Mauritius.