Evening star., 1915-06-27

pita1 facilities, so that. without an
hours delay, an infected baby and its
mother may be admitted and the work
of saving it's sight begun at once
The value of some such practical
work as outlined above has been dem
onstrated in a number of cities, notably
Boston, Cleveland and Nashville A
somewhat more detailed system is un-
der way in Buffalo. where Health Com
missioner FroncZak notified each ply
siclan In that city that:
'1 Babies sore eyes was report
able disease.
- IL was his intention to prosecute
doctors and midWives alike who were
FOUND 10 be dlsregarding this legal re-
quirement.
SO AS his sole purpose in taking
this attitude was to safeguard the eyes
of babies. he would give as much as
sistance to the doctors as they wished
or would accept. and therefore
"fa) He offered nursing service and
bacteriological examinations to those
doctors who requested this form of
assistance, or
"(b) He would provide hospital ca re
for those infants who needed more at
tention than could be given at home
a. All midwife cases would be vis-
tied and supervised by the department
of health.
How Buffalo Does It.
1T cannot be denied that such work
as has been started by Commissioner
Fronczak would be impossible for
many local health officers because of
the absence of legal authority to act,
the lack of facilities with which to
carry out the provisions of the law,
should one exist. or. what is most i'm =
portant of all, the lack of support of
this branch of public health work by
the people In the community.
NO amount of effort on the part of
the health officer can be effective if
after bringing case into court the
judge dares to throw il out with the
remark that any baby may have sore
eyes. just as any one may fail down
stairs, as actually happened in Con-
necticut.
quite obviously the crux of the
situation is to be found in the educa :
tional work. for no amount of legis-
lation will protect the eyes of the In
dividuai baby if public opinion is not
back of its enforcement.
The public must he so informed
and enlightened that the health officer
will feel secure in attempting to ex-
ercise his prerogatiVes, and the courts
will not dare to disregard the rights
of even an infant citizen to the state 8
protection
''In short. the success of our en-
d
prophylactic. the unfaiIing observa- :
ton of the reporting law, the employ
ment of visiting nurse for eye work
and the provision for hospital facilities
is really in the hands of the public.
A National Movement.
The most far-reaching appeal for
the aid of the public is the educational
campaign which has been undertaken
in this country under the direction of
DR.. Frank Airport. chairman of the
committee on conservation of vision
Of the American Medical Association.
DR.. Allports plan provides for at least
one educational meeting annually on
the subject Of prevention of blindness,
to be held by each county medical So
ciety throughout the United States.
1t has also been found helpful to
secure the cooperation of the superin-
tendent of schools, women's clubs,
nursing organizations, the Y. NJ. c. A,
the churches, associations for the blind
and any other organizations influential
in the community
preparation for the meetings in
cludes newspaper notices, announce
ments in the schools, churches. clubs,
etc. and bulletins posted in public
places. Sometimes it is possible to
have prevention of blindness included
in a general public health program, or
III TIC Pio6IdiH oI an 1n1ant welfare
week The meetings are enlivened by
the use of lantern slides and photo
graphs, while educational leaflets
printed in various languages are freely
distributed.
1t Is believed that through this CO.
operation of official and unofficial bodies,
both lay and medical. the ends which
the state laws were designed to reach
that is. prevention of blindness
among infants-will at least be ap-
preached
Clearly, if babies are to be saved
from blindness the country over, the
successive steps to be taken are first,
the enactment of laws by state legis-
latures: secondly. fearless and unre-
mitting action on the part Of local
health officers in enforcing these laws;
and. thirdly. stanch support and CO.
operation from the public at large This
requires public observation-disclosures
and uncea sing