The Coolidge examiner., 1935-05-03


Have you ever stopped to con
slider that. due To the efforts Of
your public health officials, you
have more efficient health than your
grandfathers had, or that your ia
ther had In his youth? You really
have streamlIke health. You can
work harder for more years OF your
life than your forefathers did.
In 1885 the span of life expect
ancy was only 30 years; today, 1885,
II is approximately increased exactly
100 per cent.
We take It so for granted today
that large city Is a healthy place
In which to live that II Is difficult
TO think back to the l7S0-lS3O half
century when London was chang.
Ing from virtually a village to the
first great Industrial center OF mod.
ern times. That half century was
the beginning Of the machine age.
And that beginning took a ire
mendous toll OF life. The country
population hocked into London TO
get the pittance OF the machine, but
as soon as they came they died.
The crowded squalId living condl.
tions and the long dark hours were
too hard. Though the influx was
constant. II was not enough to bal.
ance the rapid death rate. An au-
thorIiy OF that time made the state
ment In 1900 that the death rate
was In proportion to the density OF
the population. He said he had OBJ.
served that the more people were
congregated together I'm cities, the
higher was the death toll.
II this condition had continued
to be true-durIng the one hundred
and thirty-dve years since that
time. | doubt II we would have any
cities Of over 10000 population.
But we have made vast progress
IN safeguarding health. The health
controlling agencies have made II
possible to keep healthy as many
people as the architects and engi-
neers can concentrate In any given
area Indeed. the present-day
death rate In large cities Is as low
II not lower than In sparsely pop.
ulated rural communities.
II is not only doctors that are In
charge Of this public health service.
There are many other highly edu-
Gated. well-tralned men and women
responsible for a large part of the
success OF the work.
First there are the sanitary engi.
neers who are employed In the
practical application OF the princl-
plies OF sanitary science. such as
safeguarding our drinking water
This requires a knowledge OF the
biological life In streams and riv-
ers. and OF stream pollution with
human and animal excreta and with
Industrial wastes. Mosquito con-
troll also comes in this department,
and the engineers must know about
the life and breeding habits OF mos
quitoes, and must be able to iden-
tify the various mosquito races so
as to distinguish those which carry
malaria, yellow fever and dengue
fever. These matters are only part
OF their duties.
II you could peep into the depart
ment OF vital statistics Of your
state health offices, you might won
der what the mathematicians you
saw there would have to do with
health. They seem to be keeping
books. but the books are those
nearest TO st. Peter. You and |
are on their books. They make two
records for each OF US; our en-
trance into this world and our exit
from 1t. They calculate death rates
and by mathematical deductions
they know how many people should
die in 1885 from any given disease.
The department of communicable
diseases is made up of doctors who
have specialized in this field. Then
there are laboratories In which
there are many persons trained In
bacteriology. serology and chemis-
try. They make tests and analyses
of all sorts. In brief, every matter
connected with public health in any
way comes under the supervision
of your state department of public
health.
1t is due to this supervision that
we no longer fear typhoid fever,
cholera or other epidemic diseases.
But while we have made enor-
nous strides In public health, most
of them In the last hundred years
we public health officials are far
from satisfied. We want the pub
lie health to be much better than
II is. We want, for instance, to
wipe diphtheria off the face of the
earth. We have the knowledge to
do it now, and If every parent in
the country would cooperate, we
could accomplish Ii. Likewise we