had established this fact by keen observation long before_it was known that the mosquito was the mode of transmission. The observations and studies of Doctor Carter, which originated in Memphis, played a most important part in the elimmnation of yellow fever from our country and many others--and it is easy for us to see the reason why cleaning up in the City of Havana caused yellow fever to spread. In moving all the furniture, pictures, et cetera, out of the rooms of homes for disinfection and cleaning-up, we caused the infected mosquitoes to get out and go somewhere else, which they promptly did. But when we learned how "Yellow Jack" was spread by the mosquito, and by that means alone, then we immediately closed up the house as rapidly as possible and destroyed the infected mosquitoes by adequate fumigation. As our City is now one of the few southern cities almost free of Aedes aegypti (stegomyia), the yellow fever mosquito and as out City health department has done more permanent work toward the elimination of the malaria bearing mosquito than any other city of the south, it is of interest to know that the health officer from the district where Memphis-on-theNile formerly existed, recently was sent to Memphis on-theMississippi to study our modern methods of control of insectborne diseases. OKLAHOMA'S HEALTH LABORATORY SAVES STATE $350,000 Doctor Charles M. Pearce, Oklahoma's State Commissioner of Health, recently received the report of the State Health Laboratory for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1936. Scanning the list of 93,329 services rendered by the laboratory, he pondered the cost of this essential division of the department of health. of health. The entire appropriation for the Oklahoma State Laboratory is approximately $30,000 per annum. What would it have cost the State had it been necessary to buy close to 100,000 laboratory services in the open market? You can't measure the value of a health department in dollars and cents. The protection and preservation of human health involves a considerable investment on the part of communities and nations; the dividends paid from these investments are, to a great extent, intangible. However, in a State health laboratory, there are certain scientific and diagnostic procedures which have now become routine. They have a definite money-value in the service market. On this basis, Doctor Pearce figures that, if purchased at average market prices for these services, prevailing in the State of Oklahoma, the services rendered by the State Laboratory would have cost $374, 625.50. During the period July 1, 1935 to June 30, 1936, the laboratory examined 73,158 specimens, manufactured and shipped 20,171 ampules of typhoid vaccine. The average cost per service was about 33 cents. At prevailing average market prices, the cost per service would have been about $4.00. November 1936 In the following table, we have listed the services reported by the Oklahoma State Laboratory, with the prevailing market price of each service, and the approximate total cost to the State, had such services been obtained in the market. This estimate tells us nothing about the number of lives saved by immunizing vaccines, the number of foci of infection detected, the number of patients brought to treatment by accurate diagnosis. It does tell us that the State of Oklahoma paid about $30,000 for services valued at close to $375,000. At the estimated market price, this investment saved the State nearly $350,000--or if you like, returned a profit of 1150 percent--a business venture that should appeal to the most commercially-minded taxpayer. The Oklahoma State Laboratory more than "pays its freight." THE series of twelve health posters now being used by Dr. William H. Runcie, Health Officer of Hempstead, Long Island, was designed and executed by the Federal Art Project, Works Progress Administration, New York City, under the supervision of Mr. Ernest A. Weiss. Materials for making the posters were supplied by the Town of Hempstead under a special appropriation for the purpose. The posters are placed in banks, theaters, railroad stations, schools, grocery stores, and restaurants. Every two weeks, the subject is changed. THESE posters are 14 x 22 inches in SNEEZES size, and were produced on drawing November 1936 YOUTH COMMISSION STUDIES COLLEGE HEALTH SPECIAL TO The Health Officer The American Youth Commission of the American Council on Education is inaugurating a research project in the field of college student health. Data will be gathered on twenty-five thousand or more new students this year and an analysis made of the information next summer. Dr. Harold S. Diehl, Dean of the Medical Sciences of the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Charles E. Shepard, Director of the Men's Student Health Service at Stanford University will direct the research. In the first stages of the program, Doctors Diehl and Shepard will attempt to find out the types of health data that are available in all the American colleges and universities, after which they will gather the personal information on the students in some seventy-five of the colleges in all parts of the country. Through cooperation with the National Youth Administration the American Youth Commission administrative staff has arranged for graduate students to assemble the information from the records of individual students. In all cases, the local research will be under the supervision of the health officers in the colleges. Following this exploratory study, Doctors Diehl and Shepard will present an analysis to the Director of the Commission, Dr. Homer P. Rainey, who will use it in preparing projects for the Commission. The health of college students is naturally expected to be better than that of many other groups. Consequently, information will also be gathered on young people in different economic and social levels. The future progress of the world depends upon whe- PUBLICIZING PUBLIC HEALTH C. C. SLEMONS, M. D., DR. P. H. Commissioner. of the Michigan State Department of Health Development of public health services, it is generally recognized, depends to a large extent upon the degree of public understanding and acceptance of the purposes and values of such services. The possible accomplishments of preventive medicine today are far in advance of the capacity of the average health department to apply them mainly because of a lag in such a public understanding. This educational lag, heretofore lost sight of in the tremendous scientific advances of the day, is destined to prove a serious hindrance to the most efficient operation of any public health program and to the securing of adequate financial support for that program if remedial measures are not undertaken: This educational lag is doubly dangerous at this time, for we are witnessing a tremendous boom in the development of public health services--a boom brought about by the millions of dollars made avail able almost over night with the sudden recognition of public health as a vital phase of the national welfare by the Social Security Act. This sudden fall of manna has advanced the public health program many years ahead of its previous slow and natural development. Yet, isn't much of this development coming from the top down? lleretofore we were more or less building upon a firm foundation of local demand, waiting each time for public acceptance and approval before moving on to new ventures. Now suddenly from above we are able to pass down material assistance in the establishment of many new local health services. These services may not be firmly grounded in the public consciousness, and there is, therefore, an immediate need for acquainting the public with the scope and value of these new agencies if the whole structure is to remain a permanent asset to the community Briefly, a firm foundation in public opinion must be built for the available superstructure of public health organization. Publicizing public health must be the answer. When public opinion gets in step with the expanding public health program, then will practical application of public health service be more nearly correlated with current scientific knowledge. Thus arises the urgent need for a concerted effort on the part of public health agencies not only to inform a passive public of the negative values of disease prevention and of positive health measures, but to so carry forward the story of public health that the public will actively demand the best possible health protection for every individual. Recognizing this passive attitude toward public health and the immediate need for active cooperation, the Michigan Department of Health inaugurated this year an educational news program designed to maintain a continuing contact with the public in the interpretation of public health activities and conditions. A full-time trained journalist has been placed in charge of publications and a news service established under the administration of the Bureau of Education. Through this Bureau, then, is correlated all news releases to both the lay and the pro |