Health: Historical Issues

Trends in health are usually considered with respect to changes in mortality indices. Charles Webster discusses limitations in the use of these indices, in particular age-specific mortality rates. He argues instead for fuller exploitation of data relating to morbidity. Representative examples are cited to illustrate the dangers of taking morbidity data at face value. Malnutrition, tuberculosis and cancer data show under-reporting due to a variety of factors.

Webster demonstrates that the circumstances involved in the collection of data reflect the limitations and presuppositions existing within the health care system; these in turn reflect economic pressures. Nevertheless, a critical assessment of morbidity data casts doubt on the appropriateness and efficiency of health and welfare services, especially during the interwar period. Webster concludes that with careful analysis, a substantial body of data can be drawn upon to support a reconstruction of the complex pattern of morbidity existing in the diverse socio-economic circumstances prevailing in Britain since 1918.

Health: Historical Issues
Charles Webster

Discussion Paper no. 5, February 1984 (HR)