New Britain herald., 1927-10-26
NIGHTS FUN COST
 COULD SAVE CHILD
Price Of Pleasure Would Buy
 Diphtheria Anti-TOXin

X child can be immunizcd against spend for an evenings entertain uient, Health Superintendent k. w. pullen points out in bulletin urg- ing use of diphtheria anti-toAins.
 In his statement which declares deaths rom diphtheria are ineXcus- able, Dr. Pullen says:
 Tt has never been the policy of the health department to operate medical clinics, and the department firmly believes that the medical care Of the individual is not service which should be rendered by the city under ordinary Circum stances. It is only when an epidemic of dis ease threatens that the city is oblig- ed to take upon itself the coercion of individuals to prevent serious ca lamity. For that reason there has been no municipal clinic established to immunize children against diph- theria. Over period of four years this department has issued bulle- tins. has given lectures and demon- strations. and has done everything reasonably within it's power to pro- mote immunization against diph theria The public response has been, at most, lukeWarm. AS is nearly always the case, the public seems to look upon immunization against diphtheria as merely another plishment the health depart mcnt would like to add 10 it's credit. As matter of fact, diphtheria does not directly affect any person or persons involved in the health de- partmcnt for they have the means of willing to usc il. It does. however, affect children in the city. Every child thai dies from diphtheria is direct reflection against someone. In the great majority of instances any iiphthcria death may be termed as due to negligence. We will admit that there are exceptions to this rule, but they must be few and far between.
 If we admit that deaths or even cases of diphthcr.a, ar" inaccessible and the result of negligence, to whom shall this negligence be at tributcd? The answer seems rather obvious. Those persons who have children. or who have children un- der their care. are directly responsl- ble for the care of those chlldren It is d known fact that children can be immunized against diphtheria at d very small cost and practically no inconvenience. The material for immuniZation is. and has bcen availa ble to every person in the city of New Britain free of charge for the past five years. Some of It mas bt en used, but the percentage used has been very small. One will spend for an evenings entertainment as much as it would cost to immunlZe one child against diphtheria and think nothing of il. Still, how much more lasting it would be to give up that evenings entertainment and immunize one, child against diph- theria.
 As stated previously there is no
 
 against diphtheria. There is one very definite reason for this. name ly, a public clinic can never be as intimately in touch with the family a9 is the family physician nor IS thls department interested in teaching the public to lean on mun1c1pal organization for it's own Inedlcai care. Rather is it interested in educating people in health matters so that they may learn 10 take care of themselves. The department feels tl.at in offering diphtheria toXln- antitoxin for immunizatlon it IS ful- filling a definite service. The only added expense to family wishing its children immunizcd is the eN- pense of employing a physician 10 administer the toxin n-antltoAln. Nllh immunization made so readily ana easily available. why do parents have so little intnrestH'