Health Care Provision and Poor Relief in 19th Century Provincial France

This chapter describes provincial health care provision and poor relief in 19th century provincial France for many reasons. First, French centralisation and the many political changes which happened in France make it impossible to describe local situations without references to the national context, political debates and legislative framework. In this context, medical aid occupied an important and growing role in political reflections about social questions and in the implementation of poor relief. Medical aid was not only conceived as a means to improve health standards, but it was also considered as a means to reduce mortality rates and to 'civilise' the poor. The French Revolution was unhappy in its social and health policy even when its laws were generous. The Constituent Assembly and the Convention invoked the principle of obligatory public assistance. The state then began to sell these properties and had to use the money to support hospitals and poor relief agencies with public funds according to local needs.