The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-09-10


 ven, chairman of the state tubercu- losis commission, one of the best known authorities on tuberculosis and kindred diseases in New Eng land, delivered an address yester- day at the eighth conference of the International Union Against Tuber- culosis in Amsterdam, Holland. The paper is a part of the general sub ject on "The Aftercare of the Tuberculosis"
 Dr Maher said:
 The famous advice of an over- solicitous mother to her adventur- ous son, John, never go near the water until you have learned how to swim," seems to contain the philosophy of the advocation of many of the schemes for the after care of the tuberculous. They would tell the graduates of our sanatoria John and Mary" you mustn't re- turn to the conditions of ordinary human existence until you have unlearned the institutional habits that you have formed during the months or years that you have just spent getting cured in sanatoria. To prepare you for the exlgencies of ordinary living, you must go now to some tuberculosis settle ment or colony or tuberculosis village, where you will follow a fixed program of rest, and work, and meals and entertainment and where you can live with your fam fly, and perhaps be able to pay for rent and meals, out of your earn ings in the government owned fac- tories or mills connected with the settlements or villages"
 If the frightened mother re- ferred to in the first paragraph had told her son, John in order to learn to swim in the sea, you must get familiar with water, and for the next month or two you must spend several hours day in the bath tub" her advice would be just as sensible as most of the pro- posed schemes for the after treat ment of the tubercu1ous."
 One objection to all this talk abou. the after care of the tuber- culous is that 1t is illogical and based on the false promise that like the soldier who lost Q leg or an arm. in the war, the ordinary arrested or cured case of pulmon- ary tuberculosis is not able be- cause of his physical condition to engage in a gainful occupation in our work day world, but needs to be coddled and trained for long periods in some intermediate in- stitution before he may be allowed to resume his old ideas about the importance of time, and money, and achievement.
 It's true that graduates of san- atoria often fail to secure employ ment after their return to their homes; but this is due to the fact that their former employers and fellow workmen are still in a state of unreasoning panic about the supposed contagiousness of adult tuberculosis to other adultsx This state of panic is of course due to the lurid propaganda on the con- tagiousness of tuberculosis father ed by you and by me, twenty-five years ago, but now known to all of us, to be in good part untrue. TO remedy this deplorable condi- tion of panic we must in the first place show the public that in mod ern civilization adult tuberculosis Is seldom conveyed to other adults, that the cured consumptive is proba bly the least dangerous mem- Der of his community; and that the sanatorium where he has been spending the past year is a safer place to visit than any church or theater, or school, or bus, or train or tram. When we have convinced the public of these facts, our sani- torium graduates will have nc further trouble in securing suitable employment on their return tC their homes. In justice, to our pa tients, and to the cause of the truth, we should institute as soon as possible a campaign of propa- ganda that will spread a knowl. ledge of these facts to every nook and corner of the earth.
 A few weeks ago, l received letter from a young woman, who six years ago before had been cur ed at a large tuberculosis sanator. ium in New York state. During. all these six years she has been 1T perfect health. On account of hei evident ability ,and her testimon. ials, she had been quickly engaged by many corporations, but she was as promptly released. by all oi them, when their officers learned that she at one time had spen two years In a tuberculosis sana' torium. She appealed to me to dt something to remove the absurdit, and injustice of such a state of af fairs. To have given her q pos graduate course of treatment iI n tuberculosis village or colony ol
 settlement would not have helpet
 her to secure Q position in whici
 she could earn her bread and but
 ter. On the contrary such a pos
 gi duate course would have deep ened the stigma caused by thu sanitorium.
 4 first objection to all these elab crate schemes for the after-care O the graduates of the tubercuiosi
 sanatoria. is that the cost, tho in
 itlnl cest plus the cost of mainten
 anee of tuberculosis villages O
 colonies. is too great. On thi
 mntter Of cost. we must revise som, lof our recent working bypotheses