No abstract

THE medical and public health systems existent today in the UnitedStates present certain aspects which are unsatisfactory on the one hand both to the general public and to the far-sighted public health official, and on the other to the practising physician.Active and effective prevention of preventable disease is today the keynote of any intelligent public health program. The leaders in preventive work have been for the most part public health officials.Supporting them in their aims is the majority of the lay public. More and more are the American people awaking to the possibilities of a higher level of health through active prevention, and more and more is the popular demand for good medical service at reasonable rates being accompanied by the additional demand for more expert assistance in keeping well.That the efficiency of our preventive work does not even approximate its possibilities is illustrated by such facts as the following: constitutional diseases, such as heart -and kidney disorders are definitely on the increase; nervous and mental disorders are increasing at an alarming rate; syphilis and gonorrhea remain fairly general, especially in rural districts. We have still 40,000 cases of smallpox 'annually, and the incidence of diphtheria is much greater here than in many other civilized countries. Our maternal and infant mortality rates give us no cause for pride. In 1927 our maternity mortality placed us low in the list of all nations compiling data on this subject. For every 10,000 live children born, 65 women lose their lives from causes connected with childbirth. Our infant mortality rate also suffers by comparison with that of many other countries.These are some of the conditions which our public health officials wish to remedy, and the remedying of which our lay public is beginning to demand. To accomplish the task under our system would require the unified work and complete co'operation of all private practitioners.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract