Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-09-21
ENTAILS MONEY LOSS IN STATE
OF IOWA or s4,soo, 900 EACH
YEAR.
KEpFoRp GIVES FIGURES
TO sussTANTlATE STATEMENT
State Lecturer Reports 1911 Deaths
From White Plague Annually in
Iowa, With Resultant Loss Of Ssrv.
ices Of Victims - Suppression Must
Come Down to Financial Basis.

Special to Times Republican
Des Moines, Sept. 21.-Tuberculosis
entails money. labor and life loss OF
over four and a half million dollars
each year in the state of Iowa.
This appalling statement was ma de
before the Iowa conference Of institu
ton superintendent by DR.. A. e. Keep
ford. state lecturer on tuberculosis
He gave the figures to back it up. The
cost might be tabuiated as follows
Money value of life lost 1911. SO, 04s,s
Cost Of actual disability. 100000
The number of persons who died last
year in Iowa from pulmonary con-
sumption was 1.411 and a computation
as to their expectancy in life shows
that by these deaths the state was de-
prived Of an aggregate of 46,207 years
of service. Basing the financial loss
for each person as Salts, the more
than three million dollar loss is com
puted. In like manner an estimate OF
$500 as the decreased earning power
Of tuberculosis patient during the
period of illness gives the smaller sum
included In the grand total.
A Business Enterprise.
while a great many agencies and
influences" said Dr. Kepford. must
cooperate in the Anal suppression Of
the white plague. and there must be a
coordination of these potential forces
in the final combat against this dis
-ot ,,1f FOL rN
this entirely as a commercial enter
prise. But up to the present time big
business has not recognized preventive
medicine as one of the chief financial
assets of the community. tho 1t may be
safe to assume that public health adj
ministration will soon become topic
of great Importance In the discussions
of sound financial policy of COM
mercial and booster organizations.
Epidemics of smallpox. scarlet fever
and diphtheria. have served to arouse
business interests TO the necessity Of
preventing the recurrence of such cal
antilles, as the loss Of money result
ing is not only very great but IRE
trievable. The decentralization that fol-
lows an epidemic is disastrous to all
lines OF business, and disturbs the
equanimity and peace of the entire
neighborhood. tuberculosis. however.
il continuous epidemic and is the
most expensive of diseases. The toll
1t exacts annually in Iowa lives and
treasure is frightful. 1t costs a vast
sum financially each year. and it is my
earnest desire to direct the attention
Of business men thruout the state 10
the desira bility of intelligent cooper
alton to stamp it out. We have rea ched
the period in our educational propa-
sanda of which we are ready to pre-
sent the palpable facts concerning this
disease: and the dollar sign stands out
in contrast to everything else. 1t is a
recognized fact that tuberculosis seeks
the choicest spirits in the comm unity.
The ambitious and Woodworking, as a
rule, are among it's victims. These
people have been devitalized and the
normal resistance Of their bodies has
been reduced Attacked by this dis
ease 1t destroys them. They are among
the most potent and valuable in the
community They are the wage earn
ers They are the business men. They
are the mothers surrounded by groups
Of little children. They are the youths
in the high schools and colleges. They
are the men and women who do the
worlds work, and we let them debut
what does 1t coSt?'