Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-07-13

cannot be cured with penicillin. Yet these are
the things that are responsible for eonorrhea
today. The gonococcus is not the menace any
more-it can be killed. The more they ex-
anime the situation the more public health
oficials realize that the real problems Of public
health today cannot be solved entirely within
the field Of medicine.
In fact some doctors are aware of an ugly
possibility that the cure they have developed
for gonorrhea may have backfired In their
face Two public health officers. Drs. r. A.
Vonderlehf and ]. r. Heller, writing on the
control OF venereal disease u 1915 admitted
that: Should the public assume that the
availability Of penicillin offers complete free
dom to indulge in RIGHTEOUSNESS. 1t is quite
within the realm Of probability that venereal
disease rates will increase materially"
From q purely medical standpoint all the
doctor could do in the face Of this situation
would be to use his cure to minimize the
effects Of the disease in terms of physical
impairment.
In other words" Drs. vonderlehr and
Heller conclude, More people will get gonor-
rhea and syphilis more often, but fewer than
ever before will have serious complications"
To accept such a situation, however, is not
only to abandon the hope that gonorrhea
finally can be stamped out. 1t is also a cynical
indictment of the intelligence and wholesome
ness of society itself.
Ignorance Is Enemy.
Whatever may or may not be done by other
agencies which share the responsibility for
the existence of gonorrhea today. the United
States Public Health Service is not giving up
the fight. For one thing, USPHS knows that
although penicillin can and does kill the COMO
coccus almost every time, 1t cannot undo the
damage to the body caused by long neglect Of
the disease.
For another thing, these men are convinced
that their main enemy is ignorance-and
ignorance can be fought.
When the District Health Department
launched its drive against gonorrhea, July l.
1t had planned its offensive in two parts
The first part was medical logistics. It OBJ
tanned $4,000 appropriation from Congress.
1t secured promises of enough penicillin to
supply private physicians in Washington with
1900 shots, to be given free Of charge to
gonorrhea patients. Public clinics prepared
themselves for an unprecedented demand for
treatment Of the disease.
The second part of the offensive, and the
critical part, is simply to let the people know.
1t will let them know in basic English what
gonorrhea is where 1t comes from, and what
1t can do If allowed to go untreated. 1t will
let them know that the treatment by which
the disease can be cured IL quick and pain
less that 1t is free at public health clinics, and
above all, that it is completely confidential.
To get this message across, the District
Health Department is asking the help Of all
who feel that the cause Is worth while. Spe-
officially, it has enlisted Washington's taxi
operators, BARRIERS, drugstore, restaurant and
tavern owners, hotel associations and retail
liquo dealers. Through them some 100000
pamphlets will be passed out to the public
in the course of the drive. telling people what
they should know about gonorrhea and what
they should do about it.
There never has been campaign waged
against disease which promised 50 much in
the way of public health Improvement for 50
little effort on the part of those whose Coop
Grafton IL sought It Is possible that the
next IL months will see gonorrhea brought
under control in Washington and . pattern set
to stamp out the disease eysrywtere. The
statistics for the past four years show the
price of failure only too clearly.