150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF DR JOHN SNOW

Early day motion 1800, tabled 16 June 2008 by Brian Iddon (Labour). Signed by 50 members.

That this House commemorates the 150th anniversary on 16th June 2008 of the death of the great Victorian, Dr John Snow, who was a pioneer of both epidemiology and anaesthesiology and whose great contribution to human and public health is best exemplified by his breakthrough discovery, decisively demonstrated during the 1854 cholera outbreak in London, that cholera was spread in particular through contaminated water; notes that a special Royal Society of Chemistry National Chemical Landmark blue plaque was unveiled today by the Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Alan Johnson, MP, at the John Snow Public House which is situated by the very water pump in Broadwick Street, Soho, that John Snow identified as the source of the cholera outbreak, and whose handle he removed to prove his theory by forcing people to use other uncontaminated water pumps further away; notes that those taking part in today's unveiling ceremony included Professor Jim Feast, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Jeremy Pelczer, Chair of the charity WaterAid, and Dr Ros Stanwell-Smith of the John Snow Society; notes further the organisational contributions of Pauline Meakins, Brian Emsley, Richard Porte, Jonathan Edwards, Sheena Elliott, and the publicans Nick and Christine Taylor; and applauds the Royal Society of Chemistry for its role in highlighting, by means of the Chemical Landmark programme, the crucial contributions of science to the history of the United Kingdom.

Signatures by party: Labour 34, Liberal Democrat 8, Conservative 4, Independent 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1, UKIP 1, UUP 1.