The Savannah morning news., 1903-09-13
THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.

| THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.
The State Board of Health is organ
lied and ready for business. 1t has
as president a physician of high stand
| ing and secretary who is so well rec
| commended that there seems to be no
doubt that he will meet all require
ments of his position.
win the board fulfill the expectations
of the people? There are many rea-
sons for thinking it will. A very con-
| siderable portion of the people asked
for such an institution long before they
got it, The opposition to it was based
upon the belief that it would accom-
plish nothing, but would interfere with
the work of the local boards. If it
is wisely managed, and there are rea-
sons for thinking it will be, this belief
will be found to be groundless.
One of the chief arguments for a
state board of health was that the
smallpox situation demanded it. 1t is
fact that somewhere in the state that
disease can be found every year, and
at about every season of the year. Of
course there are intervals of several
years when there is scarcely a men
ton of it, and then, all at once, 1t makes
its appearance in a number of coun-
ties, and before the people realize it
there is an epidemic of it in great
many counties.
In the cities there are facilities for
taking care of smallpox patients. Out
of ara ~
cally none. Smallpox patients wander
hther and thither spreading the dis
ease, bringing death and sorrow into
homes by the score. There is a lack
of nurses, and even physicians are diff
ficult to get in some localities. Now
and then distressing stories have come
from afflicted districts, and appeals for
help. 1t has not always been the case
that satisfactory responses could be
made to these appeals. There was no
state fund to draw upon and no state
officer to direct. Cities extended aid,
but they did not feel that they could
take upon themselves the burden of
fighting the disease in all parts of the
state. The situation has undergone a
change
OF course the State Board of Health
cannot do all that ought to be done
unless it has local assistance, and even
then it will have to work in the di-
rection of proficiency slowly. 1t ex-
poets the help of local boards and
doubtless will receive it, particularly
the boards of cities, since it is to the
interests of cities to keep the state
as clear as possible not only of small
pox, but also of all other diseases of a
contagious or infectious character. 1t
is probable that outside of the cities
a very large percentage of the people,
particularly the children, is not vac
cinated. We do not know what the
board proposes to do in regard to this
matter of vaccination, but it is prob
able that as far as it can it will see
to it that the people are protected by
every possible means.
The thought has been thrown out
that eventually the board would get
into a rut and become a mere machine
| for gathering and registering statistics.
The people would object They want
practical Woodwork from which they
can see good results. If they do not
get it the life of the board will not
be long. We prefer to believe, how
ever, that the board will meet a long
felt want and will prove that a mis-
take was not made when the law was
enacted which created it,