The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-10-21
PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEMS.
Continued from Page 1.


bill for its establishment through the
legislature in the session of 1886 after
It had been introduced in every session
beginning in 1872. He said it was among
the early boards of the country and that
the plan that there should, be a health
officer in every town of the state had
been carried out until July, 1919 when
the new law providing for 10 sanitary
districts went into effect At that time
DIR. Dalton said, doctors held the Office
OF health officer in only 81 towns of the
state. The idea of the new law, he
said, was to take the public health
problems out of politics in Vermont, the
sanitary districts being presided over by
health officers who are trained men and
who will give their whole time, doing
no general practicing.
vermont, said the speaker was the
first state in the country to have any
thing Of the kind, although some of the
states had been organizing what were
called county health departments. Yer
oratory.
lie declared that there was some OBJ
position to the district plan because
some of the local health officers had been
put out OF job. The present system,
however, Is much more efficient and con-
ducive to the health of the people.
Secretary Dalton spoke of the differ
ent departments Of the state board of
health and Went into the work of each
IN some detail. In speaking of the work
OF the tuberculosis department it was
brought ont that every town in the state
had been visited with moving pictures
and a lecture on tuberculosis that much
literature had been distributed that
there had been 10000 children in the
tate doing the chores called for by the
Modern Health Crusaders. Explanation
was made of the preventorium and the
way in which it works for children.
In speaking of the work of the de-
pQrtment of vcnercal diseases DR.. Dali
ton declared that the work was very
important and that people are realizing
the diseases to be a much greater men
ace to the homes than smallpox or tuber-
culosis and that therefore it was called
the great black plague. Disease sta
lions, he said. had been started in some
parts "f the state, and he hoped one
would be started in Brattleboro.
Research work Of poIiomyeltis origi-
mated in Vermont, with New York. Mas
sachuSetts. Virginia and Minnesota fol-
lowing. remarked the secretary, who
added that letter recently had been re-
celVed from Maine inquiring about what
* called the Vermont plan" In the
last year only five cases were known in
the state, but from the natural course
- events more are expected next year
although every precautionary measure
t,noWn viii be used. An interesting fact
% the audience was the announcement
that the state had been able to secure
4 complete wing in one of the Boston
hospitals, where from 30 to 81 Vermont
children, who have had the disease and
who have been left crippled in some way.
will be treated or operated upon during
he winter.
Since the work of the public health
department has been carried on so yigi-
antly people of the state are living
seven years longer than they did 20
Years ago. according to the statistics
The infant death rate per 1000 was
only about half last year of what it was
m 1908. The tuberculosis death rate.
too. Is Diminishing, there having been
only - deaths in the state last year
Vermont holds second place in the
United States with respect to the low
eath rate from typhoid fever. Vermont
has the lowest diphtheria death rate of
New England and third in the country:
lowest in tuberculosis in New England
end third i'm the country; lowest in in
FAINT mortality in New England.
There are still black places however.
declared DIR. Dalton. Measles. whoop-
-ng cough and scarlet fever work is not
going as well. The health department
does not yet know how to control these
diseases. Cancer, said the speaker. is
not a preventable disease as such. In
1916 Vermont had the highest death
rate from cancer Of any state in the
country. although in 1917 Massachusetts
surpassed Vermont. Pneumonia also il
one of the big problems. certain types
of the disease being very contagious. and
segregation of pneumonia cases was ad- !
vorqted
Secretary Dalton spoke Of the coop |
grafton, in the state. of the different /
9genceS with the hoard of health, which |
IS a great factor in bringing about the
best results.