Evening star., 1926-06-20

WI countries to improve their
Il health standards through CO.
operation and safeguard the
lives of their people by disease pre-
Vention and cure, thus fostering the
general welfare of their nations. the
heads of the health departments and
other medical leaders of every Amer
ican Republic will meet here for
three days-September 27.29-for mu-
tual consideration of their problems
ana to formulate recommendations
which eventually are designed to be
embodied in international agreements. |
The conference will be under the |
auspices of the Pan-American SAM |
tary Bureau, an auxiliary of the Pan.
American Union, and an organization
which, although seldom in the public |
eye. has welded a potent influence |
IN the neyer-ending war against dis |
ease in the years since it came into |
existence.
The health conference is not in
itself unique. for from time to time
during the past half century similar
sessions have been held, but this
meeting is the first that is to bring
together in their official capacity the
heads of the departments. and is
viewed as another evidence Of the de-
sire Of the Americas to work to.
gether for mutual benefit.
Precedes Two Other Meetings.
Incidentally, the gathering will be
the forerunner of two others that will
bring world leaders in the medical
field to Washington. for in the
days Immediately following will come
the International Union Tubercu-
losis and the National tuberculosis
Association, both of which will be
here in the first week in October. and
| in whose sessions the Latin delegates
| have been invited to participate
The agenda of the Pen-American
| meeting gives an idea of the extent
| of the field over which the Sanitary
! Bureau casts its watchful eye.
First comes the problem of coping
with such diseases as leprosy. bubonic
plague, yellow fever. dysenteries and
malaria. most of which are yearly ex-
acting a terrific toll. although so far
as yellow fever is concerned. remark
able success has attended the efforts
to reduce its death rate.
| Code to Be Discussed.
Then in the work of prevention
| comes health eduction, infant and
| maternal mortality, sanitary en-
| gtneering. training of personnel for
| health work, public health organiza-
lsclassifcation of ports and maritime
Quarantines.
| Certain to be discussed extensively
also Is the Pan-American sanitary
| code. formulated in Havana in 1924.
| and already ratified with the status
of treaty by the United States and
several other signatory powers, and
| hailed as one of the most advanced
steps ever taken for the general vel
! 81 ,+,.ie
! This code provides. briefly. for the
| collection and dissemination of in
| formation concerning incidence of
communicable diseases. and prescribes
| and StandardiZeS measures necessary
Fto prevent transmission of quaran-
| Unable diseases from one country TO
another.
Surg Gen. Hugh s. Cumming
| of the United States Public Health
| Service. director OF the Senitary Bu-
| reau, declared the instrument one
OF the outstanding accomplishments
| OF pan-AmeriCan relations.
Information Fights Disease.
This code in effect, just gave SO
much hacking to a practice already
| generally in vogue among the Amer
| iCas. for whenever there Is an out
! break OF disease in any of the coun-
| tries the bureau headquarters here
are advised at once. ana the Intorma-
tion is broadcast To the other coun-
| tries that they may take whatever
precautions they deem advisable TO
| safeguard their avenues of communi-
| cation with the area affected TO pre-
! clude spread of infection.
The way this works out is we'll
! illustrated by the United States Pub.
| lie Health Service. Whenever WORD
of an outbreak of disease is reported
! from any country an officer is sent
to the scene at once, and 1t Is MS
duty to see that any snip sailing from
The zone affected has been surrounded
with such care that the disease Will
| not he borne to those shores. BY
taking ordinary precautions, such as
mooring vessels in midstream, so that
! rats which are the worst type OF
| diSea se-carriers, cannot come aboard,
| a shin NAV safely travel through
danger spot. other sanitary features
| also are watched carefully, and the
result of this all is that the old-time
| quarantining of port. Which meant
| a barrier to shipping. has about been
| done away with. This new order of
things has proved highly beneficial TO
| all commerce, for similar measures
| are possible where rail transporta-
| ton is involved. and in consequence
| the sanitary work has proved of d.
| rect benefit to trade between the coun-
| tries in addition to its other bene-
f1cial results.
Authorized Three Years Ago.
The forthcoming conference was
authorized by the Pan-AmeriCan Con-
ference of States in Santiago, Chile.
three wears ago, and back of 1t lies an
interesting history. for it is the out
growth of more than a century OF con-
ferences between the Americas to adj
vance their mutual interests.
Up until 1878 these gatherings dealt
with questions of state, but as COM
mercial intercourse between the sea-
many of the ports were infected with
| cholera and yellow fever, it became
necessary to have some international
/ system of notification of the sanitary
| conditions of the important ports.
| Consequently, on May IA, 1880, Con-
gress passed a joint resolution au-
| thorizing the President to call an in
| ternational conference to take action
toward this end. and, i'll pursuance
of the invitation which followed, a
meeting started here on January 5,
| 1881. with delegates in attendance
from Argentina, Austria-Hungary,
Belgium. Bolivia. Brazil, Chile. Den
mark, France, Germany, Great Brit
ain, Hawaii, Haiti, Italy, Japan,
Liberia, Mexico. the Netherlands,
Peru, Portugal. Russia, Spain, Sweden
and Norway, Turkey and Venezuela.
1t adopted resolutions providing.
among other things, for the exchange
of current sanitary information, regu-
lations governing bills of health and
the creation Of a sanitary commission
to study yellow fever.
The high light of this conference
came on February IS. 1881, when DR..