Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-03
.FVE-YEAR HEALTH
PROGRAM IS URGED
District Officials and Club
Will Ask Congress for In
crease in Work Here.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

Adoption of a five-year intensive
health program for Washington,
e somewhat like the five-year school
building program, will be urged upon
the incoming Congress by the Dis
trict Commissioners, the United
: States Bureau of Efficiency, the
= Public Health Service and the Mon
day Evening Club. Already some of
the outstanding leaders of both
, political parties in both Senate and
House have pledged their support to
Z such a program.
That Washington has been tagging
far behind other comparable cities
Z in health work; that the entire sys-
tenn of disqualification must be studied
Z. carefully and especially the proper
development of Gallinger Municipal
Hospital and construction of an
: adequate contagious disease hospital,
and that coordination of health and
: welfare work under single depart
ment head should be considered from
all angles-are reasons advanced for
making this one of the most impor-
tant matters for the District to be
pushed in the incoming Congress.
Brown Studies Problem.
Herbert D. Brown, chief of the
Bureau of Efficiency, has been deVot-
ing his personal attention to this
complicated problem, which he be-
lieves to be paramount among the
many phases of the survey which
his bureau has been making at the
request of Congress and the Dis
trict Commissioners. Prevention, he
saws, is the real answer to the well
fare problem involving five of the
very important agencies of the Dis
srict government-the Juvenile Court,
the Board of Public Welfare, the
Woman's Bureau, the department OF
a. school attendance and the corpora
ton counsers office. Undoubtedly
sickness is the largest single con-
tributing factor in this problem. An
adequate and effective health pro-
gram is therefore paramount"
The Monday Evening Club for sew
eral years has been taking a very
special interest in health matters and
has presented to the Gibson subcom'
mittee of the House District commit
tee for it's consideration group of
problems relating to health and on
which the Bureau of Efficiency has
been devoting serious study. Follow
ing a preliminary survey of the cues
ton. and after several conferences
with DR.. William C. Fowler, the Dis
trict health officer, the conclusion was
reached that the matter was OF sur
> ficient importance to require special
assistance. and accordingly the United
States Public Health Service was in
vited to undertake a complete survey
Of the health work and needs of the
he 10 oil
Capital Stands Tenth.
The Public Health Service reports
that expenditure for health work in
the District is 51.3 cents per capita as
compared with 1922 cents for Jersey
City, $50 cents for Newark, 1913 cents
for Kansas City-cities of the same
general size as Washington. Indeed,
of 16 cities in the same population
group as Washington. that is between
csc. 900 and SOC. 600 inhabitants. Wash
fngton stands tenth in the expendi-
lures for public health.
The standard recently set up by
American health authorities is 81 per
capita. Judged bv such a standard
Washington would rate about 25 per
studied by the United States Public
Health Service, Washington stands
sixty-seventh from the top in its ex-
penditure for health work. In max
ing comparisons between Washington
and other cities. however. the unique
character of our population must be
considered. these agencies that are or
ganizing the campaign emphasize
the large colored population, the small
number of foreigners and the high
average intelligence Of all the in
hahitants.
There is need for a thorough study
/. of health work in the District. and
the development of program similar
TO the five-year. school-building pro-
gram, these important agencies insist.
Facilities Are Inadequate.
The Health Department has long
urged the construction of an adequate
contagious disease hospital. Some OF
the most important work now being
carried on in the Tuberculosis Hos
pital-namely, occupational therapy-
: IL being paid for from private funds.
There is no adequate provision for
! the care of tubercuIar children, and
Washington leads all other cities In
its population class in the number of
. deaths from tuberculosis.
The death rate among infants un-
der / year in Washington increased
from 1877 in 1924 to S7.3 in 1925, and
Washington heads the list of cities
of more than 100000 population, ac-
cording to the American Child Health
Association, in the relation Of infant
mortality to live births. OF the 16
cities in its population class in 1928.
Washington led in the number of
cases of tuberculosis and measles.
was second for whooping cough, third
for typhoid, fourth for scarlet fever
and ninth for diphtheria. It's pre-
eminence in these dread diseases
among children is hardly one of con-
graduation. Mr.. Brown points out.
{ At a public health conference held
In Washington in 1922 it was stated
that the death rate for preventable
diseases in New York City had been
reduced so per cent by proper health
education. Newspapers, lectures,
radio, pamphlets. exhibits, posters and
general community cooperation, in
addition to work in the schools, are
the means by which such education
is given. But the District Health
Department. has no appropriation
whatever for such work.
Contracts With Hospitals.
In 1903 Congress provided for IL
part time medical school inspectors,
and save for the addition of chief
medical inspector and 10 nurses, no
increase in the general medical staff
has been made to date. although the
public school population has increased
from 48,745 in 1903 to 70,719 in 1927.
There has been added a corps of
dental specialists, inspectors, s
operators and 4 hygienists. but no
provision has been made for other
specialists in eye, ear, nose. throat,
heart. etc. The report OF the Mon
day Evening Club on this subject has
brought out many interesting phases
of the problem on which Congress
hos aSlLad iha 2IIraatl nf EHHniafacxr To