Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-01
RrpORTING DISEASES


To report each disease handled is some
trouble 10 physician, but the effect on
the health of s community Is SO apparent
that more and more cities and states are
demanding this service of their doctors
Reporting cases Is made as little trouble ~
possible by use OF q printed card which
the doctor has only 70 check IN VARIOUS
places. sign, and mall TO the proper CITY
or county official. No stamp Is needed
nor is it necessary TO write an address
on the card
In England. where the reporting Of
eases is demanded OF doctors, twentv-
FIVE cents is paid for each disease reported
4 bonus IS not offered IN this country, Is
the cards minimize effort on the doctor :
part, and the expense would be so great
Furthermore, the States employing the
system declare that the service IS = far
return for the license 70 practice issued
by the State.
Only accordIng TO returns on disease
and death can a city Judge Of its health
status. That the people in general are
calmly unconscious of health conditions
IL their community unless statistics are
brought to their attention was shown BY
North Carolina heslth official some time
ago. This official telephoned TO five
prominent citizens, al interested n the
city's welfare, and asked them 10 answer
offhand two questions First, what IS
your opinion Of the health TX TINS city
and second, how many people would you
SAY died In thus city last year.
To the first question al five replied
that the health of the city was good
The guesscs as to the number oi dea tbs
In a year varied from sixty 80 three hun
dred The answers showed how little
the people Of the city knew of their local
health situation for the death figure
that year was sos making the death rate
almost double the rate for the United
States in general
Once a city Is aware of its deficiencies
1t can start a campaign 10 overcome them
Without accurate statistics, IS a guide
any drive for better health Is apt to be
Intellectual
The United States is apparently less
interesting in keeping tab on its nopula-
tl0n than the countries Of Europe Once
IN ten years, census enumerator knocks
At each door and obtains a few facts as
to the inhabitants Of the United States,
and then for the next ten years the census
bureau ISSUES reports and estimates based
mainly on this set Of figures. We do not
know how many children are bern every
EatA ia ttlt I IiAGN states anu We 90 DUL
know accurately how many people die
every year. If we knew these things. and
the causes and circumstances, we could
add fifteen years to the average iie-at
least SO some statistlcians claim.
Though the situation in State book
keeping Is not good, still the outlook is
more hopeful than ever before More
States are added to the registration area
every year, and better more uniform laws
are enacted, Moreover, it should not be
forgotten that some States have remark
able records OF vital statistics few even
dating back to colonial times.
A sweeping remedy for registration
problems would be Federal law The
wisdom of this, however, is doubtful, as
some of the States have excellent laws
and might consider Federal control
reflection on their ability. Besides, tho
argument is started rs to whether 3 Fed
eral law would be constitutional.
At present, health officials and organ
such as the Federation OF Labor,
advocate uniform State registration laws
TO be patterned after the model law of
Pennsylvania.