Evening star., 1947-04-06

|plete but the 1s46 death rate prob-
ably was the lowest In Spanish
history.
Britain,s diet is dull and restricted.
but prewar nutritional standards
have been maintained-even In
creased In the case Of children.
tuberculosis made q brief squirt
early in the war, but again Is on
the decline. A government cam
paign against syphilis and gonor-
rhea halted an increase in those
diseases after an alarming rise In
1941.
OF the nations covered by the
survey, only Sweden escaped q war
time increase in tuberculosis. But,
Swedish health authorities said.
venereal disease still exceeds prewar
levels.
Romanian Province Suffers.
Germany, Poland, Romania, Yugo-
slavia, Austria and Greece are the
continents blackest plague spots
with Moldavia, perhaps. the blackest
of all.
Scorched by two successive years
of drought, the Romanian province
is on starvation diet and resistance
to disease has waned.
Typhus, averaging about 2,400
cases annually in Romania, jumped
to 1882 cases in 1946-most Of them
in Moldayia-and doctors forecast
another $4,000 in 1947. ~
More than million of the 16,5oo,-
600 Romanians are suffering from
syphilis, health authorities reported.
They estimated another 100000
were victims of gonorrhea.
tuberculosis affects approximately
100000 Romanians and another
TOO, 900 suffer from malaria.
High TB Rate in Germany.
Germany, which before Hitler had
one of the worlds lowest tubercu-
losis rates, now has one of the high
est. Other diseases, except venereal
infections, are on the decline.
Voicing the American Military
Governments concern at the rapid
spread of tuberculosis among Ger
many's undernourished population,
1t. Col. Adam J. Rapalski, chief Of
the AMG's public health branch,
declared:
"It will be a problem for years to
come, especially in Berlin where
the incidence will be higher than
elsewhere because of the aggravat-
ing conditions which exist in the
battered and crowded metropolis" !"
Each week since January 1, Berlin
a city of three and one-quarter mil
lion population, has reported an
average of more than 400 new cases
of TB and about $50 deaths.
In a February is announcement
the AMG reported 48,113 new TB
cases, making a total of 1898 in
the American occupation zone.
In the American zone gonorrhea
is the most prevalent communicable
disease and the military govern
nent's knottiest problem. The aver
age rate in Berlin for six months
has been 100 cases per 10000 popu-
lation. Incidence is somewhat lower
in the provinces, where syphilis Is
increasing.
Poland Handicapped.
Poland's stiffest battle is against
tuberculosis. Unofficial but authori-
tative sources estimated the disease
claims more than $4,000 lives per
month. mostly among young people.
Accurate figures on venereal dis
ease are not available, but best esti-
mates indicate at least 100000
cases among Poland's 24,000,000 in
habitants. Data from University of
Warsaw clinics show a 12-fold in
crease in syphilis.
THE present incidence" said DR..
Norman Begg, UNRRA health d.
rector, constitutes potential and
serious handicap to Poland for many
years"
In Athens, UNRRA health off,
GERS estimated 10000 tuberculosis
sufferers were in need of the rest
n,,,a nx,I that n,,lrr Z 400 hadc IIern