The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-11-01

OAA1S aAAh NAANAA NaAy
his column.
decorated but continuously and
unrelentingly and with great in
telligence and all the resources Of
modern science conducted the cam
paign for public health for the
civilian population.
1t appears to have come as q
surprise to publicists and news
paper editorial writers whenever
the news from this campaign did
reach status to be worthy Of col
umn or two Of new print, that the
health of the general population
has been even better during the
war than it was in some of the pip
ing times of peace. II is true that
we have had a worse epidemic OF
infantile paralysis this year than
we had for many years, but that
is because we simply and sadly
have to confess ignorance as to
how that contagion is spread. I'm
til we do know, the situation will
get no better, except for the nat
ural fluctuations of the disease.
Public Health Improved
But in spite of rationing and
travel restrictions, or perhaps
partly because of those necessary
impositions, in spite of the tension
and tenseness of life, in spite of
the enormous amount of attention
paid to the health Of the members
of the armed forces our civil pop
ulation has remained in wonderful
health. Infant mortality is down,
there is no, or little typhoid,
school children diseases are at a
minimum and the death rate
everywhere in civil life is down.
For all this, due credit should be
given to the public health admins
tration. federal, state, county and
city, all over the land.
1t has been wondered why in this
war the italian troops were not
better warriors and the theory has
been advanced thatthey as'well as
the rest of the Italian population
are physically weakened, and de-
Perforated by the inroads of ma
laria in Italy. The Italian health
services have never been partic-
ularly distinguished in spite Of the
fact that some eminent men have
held posts in them. A large part
of Italy has for years been exposed
to malaria of a peculiarly per-
nicious kind. Experience has
shown, according to DR.. Frederick
Russell, Professor Of Preventive
Medicine at Harvard, that re-
peated infections with malaria in
endemic areas, such as Southern
and Central Italy, produce weak
ened population.
Malaria in Southern Italy
Not only is the health Of the
community at low level, but the
economic condition of the people is
depressed. Much of the Southern
Italian population is involved in q
vicious circle of disease, undernu-
triton, poor economic status, poor
education, and a hopeless outlook
for the future. With better public
health in Italy the whole course Of
the Italian war effort might have
been different.
There is nothing new about the
idea because the degeneration OF
classical Greece has been univer-
sally attributed to the invasion OF
the country by malaria about the
fifth century B. C. The Greeks
knew nothing about malaria but
today malaria and its control is
we'll understood, and if the Italians
had used all the knowledge avail
able they could have controlled the
greater part Of it, just as. it has
been done in this country, where
malaria used to be endemic all over
the Mississippi Valley.
Our health problems are not all
solved by any means. With the re-
turn Of soldiers and sailors some
of them incapacitated either by
injury or disease, some Of them in
mental states that are far from
cooperative, we have real job to
do To get them back into condition
so they will be healthy, able anG
self-respecting with abilities TO be
self-supporting. All the resources
Of social medicine will be neces-
sary for the successful accom-.
plishment of this task.