The uses of 'Uses of Epidemiology'

In 1944 the Association for Education in Citizenship published a pamphlet entitled ‘Health’ by Major Jerry Morris 1 (of the Royal Army Medical Corps), as one of a series of Handbooks for Discussion Groups. The preface to the pamphlets in this series said that they were intended to be used by discussion circles concerned with the social, economic and political problems that arose from the Second World War. The central problem the pamphlet dealt with was that of health as a social function: statistics on the current state of ill-health in Britain were presented (against the background of considerable improvement from the mid-19th century), the problem of socioeconomic differentials in health outlined and arguments in favour of a universal tax-funded health service presented. By way of a conclusion readers were exhorted to involve themselves in understanding—and through this improving—the health of the communities in which they lived (Box 1). In 1948—and now as a civilian—Jerry Morris became Director of the Medical Research Council Social Medicine Research Unit. 2 This unit contributed importantly to the development of the methodology and practice of the epidemiology of chronic disease and in 1955 the Director published an article entitled ‘Uses of Epidemiology’ in the British Medical Journal. 3 This article was expanded into a book 4 which, on publication in 1957, became one of the pioneering texts of 20th century epidemiology. Major Greenwood’s 1935 Epidemics and Crowd Diseases 5 had dis