Abstract

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, founded in 1929 to study all aspects of public health, set up an occupational health unit in 1956 funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. With financial aid from the Trades Union Congress it expanded into an institute with an information and advisory service. Employers and trade unions sought advice on health problems which led to research projects and enriched teaching. Postgraduate courses in occupational medicine and hygiene attracted many students from all over the world. If the threat to close the institute takes place it will deprive the western world of a major centre for teaching and research in occupational health.