The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1949-09-30
IT'S YOUR
HEALTH....

IIE7.'ss's
Prepared by the Staffs Of the
Schools of Medicine, Dentistry
and Nursing. University Of
Washington.)
Is the, milk in your lunch bot.
tie pasteuriZed? Was the water
YOU drank this morning chlorin-
ated? Has the garbage you toss
ed into the can this week been
properly disposed of? Possibly
you haven't thought of such
things recently.
Nor, in all probability have
you stopped to consider the fact
that the meat you bought for
dinner was subjected to inspec-
ton; or that the food, glassware
and eating utensils where you
dined out last, should have been
prepared in accordance with
specific regulations.
Too often we are inclined to
overlook the excellent job being
performed by our various state
and local health agencies. We
should be concerned, because one
of the chief purposes of the work
of such agencies is to help us
protect ourselves against serious
disease and disability.
TAKE GREAT STRIDES
No longer do we wait until a
case of smallpox or typhoid fever
or diptheria strikes one of us and
then pray that isolation and
quarantine measures alone will
prevent an epidemic as was the
case not too many decades ago
Most health departments have
taken great strides since that
time.
Now, in the State of Washing.
ton there are extensive programs
at work which make it extreme.
ly unlikely that serious epidem.
les of such alarming disease
will attack us again. Unlikely
of course, only if we aid the eff.
forts of our health forces BY
proper understanding and coop
Grafton.
In communicable disease con.
troll, one of the most effective
weapons we possess is the i'm,
munizing agent. Inoculations car
be obtained from health depart,
ments or private physicians that
will give most of us increased
protection against such diseases
as smallpox, diptheria, whoop,
ing cough and tetanus.
Muck work is being done Il
produce and perfect vaccines a.
gainst other diseases such as in.
fluenza and measles. As yet
there is no immunizing agent to
protect against poliomyelitis.
GENERAL SANITATION 80
Protection against the food and
drink borne group of commune.
able diseases such as typhoid
fever, acute food poisoning, dy.
sentery and worm infestations is
afforded by a program of general
sanitation.
Colonization and filtration OF
water supplies, proper sewage
treatment, adequate garbage dis.
posal, regulation and supervision
of food industries, restaurant in.
spection, vermin control and food
handlers examinations are all
evidence of community effort to.
ward disease prevention.
Measures such as these may
seem costly and cumbersome,
but we have only to add up the
cost in lives and disability re-
sulting from epidemics of dis
eases such as those just men,
toned to realize how economical
and effective the program really
is.
It Is the obligation of the
public to become informed as to
the many developments in the
field of communicable disease
control so that all may benefit
and contribute.
To this end, the Health Educa.
ton Section of our health de.
partments is busily at work pre-
pairing materials of all kinds,
such as movies, booklets, health
council programs and school
audio.visua1 aids. The objective:
to educate all citizens of the
state on the use of the weapons
now available to fight dreaded
communicable diseases.