Public Health as Social Progress

The Belle Époque transformed public health from charity to right. Tuberculosis, killing 150,000 French annually, became the era's great crusade. The disease struck all classes but killed predominantly poor, linking health to social conditions.

Dr. Léon Bourgeois's solidarisme philosophy influenced health policy profoundly. Society bore collective responsibility for individual welfare. Tuberculosis resulted from poor housing, overwork, and malnutrition—social conditions requiring social solutions. His ideas justified extensive state intervention in public health.

The dispensaire system provided free tuberculosis screening and treatment. These clinics, often staffed by pioneering female doctors excluded from hospital positions, reached working-class neighborhoods. They discovered disease reservoirs in overcrowded housing, sweatshops, and prisons.

Infant mortality campaigns showed public health's intersection with feminism. The Goutte de Lait (Drop of Milk) stations provided sterilized milk and maternal education. Dr. Suzanne Presse, directing Belleville's station, battled both infant deaths and patronizing attitudes toward working mothers. "These women need practical help, not moral lectures," she insisted.

Mental health slowly entered public consciousness. The old practice of exhibiting "lunatics" for entertainment ended. New theories about mental illness as disease rather than moral failing emerged. Dr. Marie Josephine Gaussel's work with "hysterical" women revealed how diagnosis masked social protest—women deemed mad for rejecting prescribed roles.