Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-31
WHITE PLAGUE IS
PREVALEN IN
ALL GEORGIA
investigator Finds 26,5OO Cases
Declares Little Effort Is Made
to Check Disease,
Continued From Page I.

nearly represent the true ratio in
Georgia"
Miss Whitney estimates that the
annual loss of life from consumption
in Georgia each year is $500 Of whcn
she says
"Fifty-three hundred adult lives
sacrificed in Georgia alone means ar
economic loss of over so, 100000" And
then she reflects ironically on the
huge appropriations made toward the
eradication of hog cholera and other
diseases among animals. where but
petty sums are publicly spent to
thwart tuberculosis.
The reasons for the spread of the
disease in Georgia, and the needs of
the State as she sees them, Miss
Whitney relates.
Ignorance is the biggest factor
with which we will have to contend in
our program of eradicating tuberCu-
losis in Georgia" she says. Every
person in Georgia should know that It
is not a necessary evil, but a durable.
preVentable disease, which for lack of
proper remedial measures is killing
over $500 in Georgia year in and year
out.
Education Is Needed.
I'VE need fearless physicians and
we need people deucated so they are
not afraid to listen to the truth
The housing conditions are partly
responsible. The negro dwellings have
a Mt ~ le6
ries'
Consideration Of the fact that any
sufferer. white or black, is a focus
Of infection is imperative.
The proper inspection of foodstuffs.
especially meat and milk. is also a
part of the problem.
I'VE need protection in the schools.
Some Citeis have taken up the work OF
medical inspection in schools, but it IS
so new that there are not many rec
ords of results yet. One inspector told
me he had found twelve cases among
the children in a little over a year,
and these were discovered accidental
ly, as no microscopcal examinations
are made, except in unusual cases
Teachers need inspection as well.
found two ca SEES where teachers suf-
fered and had been in the classrooms
until within few months of their
deaths II the disease were measles
and smallpox, action would have
come.
THE conditions in almshouses need
attention. Most institutions make 10
provision for tuberculosis patients.
who are housed with the others
Scores Lack of Registration.
But most OF Miss Whitneys vehe-
mence is directed toward the lack Of
registration in the State.
The method of obtaining informe.-
ton on the mortality from tubercn-
losis. or rather tn impossibilitv ~
getting accurate data, should be a
reproach to every citizen. The book =
keeping of humanity is absolutely
neglected. This almost entire absence
o. reliable vital statistics is a great
hindrance tn the progress or the Grad
ication of tuberculosis.
Il have been asked many times dur
ing my survey whether tuberculosis in
Georgia is on the increase. No one
knows Accurate records Of deaths
and their causes alone could answer
this. and Of these We're have none.
Does It not seem appalling that
Georgia knows nothing OF the great
loss OF life within its borders each
year. that it hurtles on, planning
progress and expansion, while many
thousand lives are needlesslv sacrl-
feed and no heed paid to the loss
The material value Of these lives is an
economic problem well worth consid-
erinR
The big problem which Georgia,
along with other Southern States, Il
facing is the Susceptibility OF the negro
to tuberculosis, the factors which
cause his enormous death rate the
conditions under which he lives and
the menace he is to the community
as a carrier and a transmitter Of the
disease"
The work Of the State with its AFRO
Sanitarium and its prison and institu-
tional treatment is recOunted Miss
Whitney finds the facilities very me2-
ger as compared to the necessity. The
work Of the Atlanta Anti Tuberculo-
sis Association is commended.