Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-10-08
DR.. B. A. STOCKDALE

content with the suppression of COM |
municable diseases but aims rather at
securing those conditions of the health
of community that shall enable 1t to
display the utmost activity of it's ply
steal and intelligent energies. 1t must
be admitted that this conception of
the work is somewhat extensive; new
ertheless, however far it falls short of
of it realization it is labor worthy
of the many workers contributing from
various sources to it's accomplish
ment.
Sanitation.
"The efforts of public health admin
| istration are therefore not limited to
the prevention of death or even of dis
| ease but embrace the promotion OF
health. Observation and experiment
having more or less determined many
| of the conditions necessary for the
maintenance Of health, when those
conditions have been fixed their in
fringement must be held to lead to
the deterioration of health, and to the
ultimate invasion by disease. 1t then
becomes the duty Of the state and of
local authorities to concert the public
measures requisite in order to obtain
| those conditions and to enforce them
by statute and municipal law for pro-
| lection Of the community. These
measures are embraced as a whole in
4
Under the new law making the
i health officer local registrar of vital
statistics imposes an important duty
i that official. Although the law which
our association worked for did no pass
we should 1 think do our duty to the
present law. There are many good
points in it and if carried out much
good will result.
John F. J. Syker, Of London, medi-
cal officer Of health for st. Pancarar,
London, says, that statistics are the
, only means that standard of structure
and function, health and disease, life
and death can become establishedan
that personal as we'll as public hy-
giene is guided by their conclusions.
( as statistics form the groundwork OF
hygiene in all its ramifications.
''In our case I think good has beer
done by bringing the state board OF
, health officers and township boards
more closely together. think it has
done that.
) "There are physicians who are op.
: posed to the law, because it impose!
5 duty on them without compensation
, They also oppose giving any informa
) ton to the board of control abou
tuberculosis. After hearing so mucl
4 about the needs Of state sanitoria las
e winter during the legislature and a
/ medical meetings l hardly thought an.
Y reputable physicians would oppose II
r But there are. We as health officer
8 should be careful about our opposi
Y sition to such measures. The la1t
o and the Legislature will not listen t
: us in course of time if such cours
: is adopted. The saying is at the pres
e ent time that physicians can not agre
: on anything among themselves.
r makes progress in hygiene and SAM
d tary lines slow when some Of our oW
number are doing a vigorous kickin
against some work or measure the
few are endeavoring by hard work
IS accomplish.
: ITO see how many health officer
/ are careless and indifferent 1t Is onl
% necessary, to try to correspond wit
lie the physicians or health officers.
IS is about impossible to receive repl
re It seems to me we should assist eac
IS other and any communication fro
~ our brother physician should receiN
IS our attention. The busy practitioner
I'd the one who usually has time to wri
to us. -
In bring up before you before close ar
ne that is that every health officer
I'D member of the association should Ell
er deavor to interest his neighbor heal
c. officers in our work and try and ha'
him join our association. You {
tn have special friends that you CO
lie reach better than the officers of tn
ut society and if every member wou
he secure one additional member OF
NV growth would be doubted and I ho]
ge our results would also be doubled"
Of -----
er New Germ Destroyer.
IL ~ Nav DiScoypry lille ~