Final answer:
The 5th-11th sanitary conferences focused on establishing international standards of public health and prevention of diseases like cholera, influenced by earlier findings of Semmelweis on handwashing and Snow on the transmission of cholera through water.
Step-by-step explanation:
Throughout the 5th-11th sanitary conferences from 1881-1903, various international decisions were made regarding public health and sanitation in response to the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera. These conferences were a series of international meetings where public health officials and governments discussed and agreed upon measures to contain and prevent epidemic diseases. Disease prevention and the implementation of sanitary measures were the primary focus, as illustrated by historic practices. For example, the discovery made by Ignaz Semmelweis that handwashing with chlorinated lime water could drastically reduce the transmission of puerperal fever sets a precedent for the type of public health policies discussed at these conferences. Semmelweis's findings, along with the work of John Snow who identified the transmission of cholera through contaminated water, helped to refute the miasma theory and endorsed the importance of sanitation. These breakthroughs in understanding the role of sanitation in spreading disease laid the groundwork for the international collaborative efforts witnessed during the sanitary conferences. Although the exact conclusions of each conference are not detailed here, the overall aim was to establish international standards of sanitation to prevent the spread of diseases like cholera. The implications of these conferences were substantial, proving that diseases could be combatted effectively through improved hygiene and public health measures, which can be seen as a forerunner to contemporary international health regulations.