The Savannah morning news., 1903-05-26
WOULD TAKE MONEY
40 OPERATE STATE BOARD OF
HEALTH IN GEORGIA.
HEALTH OFFICER Drummer
SAYS THAT WITHOUT FUNDS
BOARD WOULD BE USELESS.

Establish ment of Such a Board Mat
ter of Indifference to Savannah's
Health Oficer-StrOnE Effort VIII
BE Made Mt Coming Session of
legislature to Create Such a
BOard-Dr. Hicks of Dublin the
Moving Spfrit-MOre Small POx in
States Bordering Georgia and
They Have state Boards of Health.
At the coming session of the Legs
lature a strong effort will be made to
secure the creation of a state board of
health. DIR. Charles Hicks of Dublin,
formerly president of the Georgia Med
ical Association, is the moving spirit
in the effort.
AT the last meeting of the medical
association held in Columbus a reso-
luton was passed appointing a COM
mittee consisting of one physician from
each of the forty-four senatorial dis
tricts in the state, with DIR. Hicks as
chairman, to take such steps as were
necessary to have the law creating a
department of health passed. While
that committee has held no meeting as
yet, each member has been hard at
work comforting with and writing to
members of the Legislature and having
other prominent men to do the same
thing.
AT present the movement is we'll I'M
der way and DR.. Hicks is very much
encouraged over the outlook. Gov.
Terrell is strongly in favor of such a
department, and will in his annual
message to the General Assembly rec
ommend to the body to create such a
department according to the ideas of
the medical association. Already there
is bill pending in the House to estab-
fish a state board of health, but it is
not exactly in conformity with the
plans of the association and will be
amended somewhat. An attorney will
be employed for that purpose and when
the Legislature meets in June the bill
will be among the first to be intro
duced.
Health Officer Indifferent.
The establishment of a state board
of health is a matter of absolute in
difference to me- said Health Officer
w. F. Drummer when asked for an
expression. MY experience of twen-
ty years with state and municipal
boards of health has demonstrated
clearly that unless they are amply
provided with funds they are worse
than useless, inasmuch as from a lack
of funds they are unable to carry out
measures necessary to prevent the
spread of epidemic diseases, and the
fact that there is a state board of
health prevents the national govern
ment from performing this work
To-day there is and always has
been, more smallpox in each of the
states bordering Georgia, namely:
South Carolina, Florida, Alabama,
Tennessee and North Carolina than in
Georgia, for the reason that while
these five states have Boards of
Health they lack the sinew of war and
in some instances would not ask for
outside help.
I'm the matter of interstate quar-
antine it has been amply proven that
to prevent paralysis of trade, and to
insure sanitary results the Public
Health and Marine Hospital Service
should assume charge. Maritime quar-
antine, now controlled by the national
government, should not be interfered
with. 1t would be beyond financial
ability. as well as beyond the practical
knowledge of maritime sanitation, of
boards to conduct successfully"
What Board Would BE.
When DR.. Hicks was in Savannah
he requested DIR. Drummer to roughly
draw up a skeleton bill for the estab-
lishment of a state board of health.
Savannahs health officer was request
ed to give his idea of what such a
measure should contain. and the fol-
lowing was furnished:
Thes board to consist of the Gov
ernor as chairman, two physicians, one
of whom will be the state health Off
Ger, who will be the executive officer
OF the board; lawyer and a sanitary
engineer.
The functions suggested are: to con-
troll epidemic diseases, to inaugurate
and control county board of health;
to 1naugurate a complete system of
vital statistics; to inaugurate a sani-
tary inspection service; to establish a
chemical and archaeological labora-
tory.
In the control of epidemic diseases
1t is proposed to prevent their intro
duction from another state, and if in
PRODUCED, to prevent any spread of
same; local boards to control under
state regulations and supervision of
state health officer.
All counties to have boards of health.
with health officer, who will be an
agent of state board, reporting to same.
Marriages, births and deaths to be vital
statistics. The sanitary inspection
service to include nuisances, foods.
dairy products, public buildings, house
drainage, pollutions of water supplies,
cattle, abbatoirs, meats, schools,
infectious and contagious dis
eases. Laboratories to be: chem
ical. for food adulteration and
water analysis; archaeological for
pathological work, determining germi-
eide value of disinfectants, etc.