Establishing the Board of Health (1851)
With the advice of his Privy Council, King Kamehameha III established the Hawai'i Board of Health on May 8, 1851, signaling the first step towards government intervention to protect the general public's health.
"The initial duties and powers of the Board of Health were established by the ordinance of 1851, by which the Board acquired powers for the inspection of houses and other places for nuisances, the enforcement of port quarantine, and the selection of grave sites."
-Hawai'i Department of Health, "Administrative History"
The Board originally consisted of seven American members who were appointed by the King. This lack of Hawaiian perspective eventually contributed to the public unrest following the decree of segregation for those afflicted with leprosy.
"The members of the board (included) Dr. T. C. B. Rooke, Dr. George A. Lathrop, C. Hoffman, M. D., Benjamin F. Hardy, G. W. Hunter, Richard Hill Smith, and W. Newcomb—seven members, four to act as a quorum." "Almost immediately following the creation of the BOH, an epidemic of smallpox occurred in 1851 in Hawai'i. The limited funds originally legislated for cholera protection were utilized to aid the smallpox victims...[it] was not quelled until after 282 deaths occurred." |