Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-20
REPORTING DISEASES.
Bv Frederic ]. Haskin.

BY Frederic
The census bureau recently was aoie 10
announce that IS per cent OF the Peopie
of the United States now live In territory
covered by laws requiring the resis'ra-
ton of all deaths and the causes thereoi.
This announcement is significant, since IL
shows a gradually growing sentiment IN
favor of combating contagious diseases
by organized effort. 1t is held that such
reports are requisite to the effective adj
ministration of the health laws or the
various states and essential to nation
wide study of the causes of diseases and
the methods of their repression. The
registration area" of the country COM
prises those states and cities which are
the necessary information prescribed in
the standard death certificate which has
been formulated by the health authorities
of the United States. This certificate
complies with the principles Of the in
ternational statement Of the causes OF
death which has been framed by the
health authorities Of the entire civilized
world.
The laws of twenty-one states have
been pronounced by the census bureau
to be sufficiently productive of accurate
mortality statistics to entitle them to be
included in the registration area" One
of the latest states to join the movement
for accurate vital and mortal statistics
is North Carolina. This state recently
passed a law providing for uniform
methods of death registration with all
the essential requirements of the stand
ard law prepared by the census authori-
ties and the health officials of the coun-
,ly ,sef, ION,
forcement of the law are made the duey
of the state board of health.
X X
The mayor of each city or town is made
responsible for it's enforcement In each
municipal juris-
Mayors of Towns dction. This law
Made Responsible. nicipalities hav-
ing population of 500 or more. Texas
also has made improvements in its SAM
tary code, requiring each Incorporated
city and town in the state to register all
deaths. 1t is asserted by the census
authorities that there are many practical
difficulties in the way of attaining eff
fective state registration in some parts
of the south. and that 1t will probably
be a long time before the rural pOpu-
lation of these states can be reached by
the death registration laws.
The movement for the extension of the
registration area of the United States is
being fostered and pressed by concerted
efforts of the census bureau and the
American Medical Association. A model
law. drafted a few years ago. was in
tended to serve as a basis for legislation
in states not possessing effective regis
tration of births and deaths. Laws COM
plying with the underlying principle of
this model law have been enacted in a
number of states, including PennsyIva-
MIA and Ohio. They have uniformly
proved practical in operation and capa-
BILE of giving satisfactory results when
administered thoroughly. A law based
entirely on the model bill went into eff
feet in Missouri in February, 1910. Sim
liar laws became operative in Kentucky
and Idaho during 1911. Important regis
tration methods have been enacted into
the state laws Of Louisiana and Tennes-
see. The present session Of the Virginia
legislature will be asked to pass a regis
tration law along similar lines. the pro-
posed measure being pressed by the
health authorities of the state
AZ
The census bureau has adopted the
recommendations of the American Public |
Health Asso-
Recommendations citation as to !
Adopted by Bureau. se sem for
thorough registration of the births and
deaths of the country. In each case |
eight essentials are laid down. Those for
the adequate registration of deaths en-
brace a, prompt recording of each death.
the record to be made upon standard !
o%
quirement is compulsory burial and re-
moval permits. 1t also is set forth that
the local registrars shall be efficient;
that the responsibility for reporting |
deaths shall be placed upon the UNDER !
taker, and that the health authorities |
shall have full control of the local ma
chinery. The transmission and preserva-
tion OF the returns must be provided for,
and penalties for failure to carry out the
registration laws provided and enforced.
The census bureau states that the en-
actment of death registration laws is
highly desirable. but that however per-
feet any system may be in theory, 1t is
of no value IL in practice physicians, un-
dertakers and other persons are allowed
To violate the law without punishment. 1t
is stated that this Is a common weakness
in the adm nistration of American regis
tration laws. Many states now rigidly en-
force the laws for the registration of
deaths. and some of them are beginning
10 place equal stress upon the enforce
ment of the laws requiring the regis
tration of births.
Not only is the census bureau interested
I'm the matters of death and birth regis
tration, but likewise the public health and
marine hospital service. This service re-
Gently has issued most valuable con-
tribution to the subject of death and
birth registration in the shape Of a digest
OF all state laws providing for the re-
porting Of diseases. The authorities of
the service state it is generally agreed
that the function of the health officer is
the prevention of disease, and that this
requires a knowledge Of the prevalence
and geographic distribution of all kinds
of sickness. This knowledge, it is as
serted can be obtained only through the
reporting of all cases Of sickness.
With the advance Of the science Of pre-
ventive medicine there is concurrently
constantly
List of Preventable growing list
Diseases Is Growing. diseases The
health authorities declare that If the
most is to be made of the lessons Of pre-
ventive medicine, 1t is highly important
that thorough registration shall be pro-
vided. 1t is pointed out that il contagious
diseases are to be effectively combated.
complete statistics must be gathered. 1t
also is asserted that the elimination of
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