HEALTH WORK OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS
The War Department has also waged a relentless warfare against disease, not only in the army itself, but also in the Panama Canal Zone, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and other regions occupied by the army. The Department of Labor seeks to improve the physical conditions of labor for both men and women, and its Children's Bureau is charged with a study of all matters pertaining to the welfare of children. In the Department of the Interior the Census Bureau collects national vital statistics; the Bureau of Mines has done valuable work for the prevention of accidents in mines and mining industries; and the Bureau of Education seeks to promote physical education, instruction in home economics, and education in the home relating to the care of children.
STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HEALTH PROTECTION
A very large part of the duty of health protection must, however, remain with the states. Every state has its department of health, headed by a state board of health, or a commissioner of health, or both. These departments differ greatly in their organization and in the extent and effectiveness of their work.
NEW YORK STATE ORGANIZATION
One of the best organized state departments of health is that of New York. Among its most important features are (1) a PUBLIC HEALTH COUNCIL which has power to establish a state-wide SANITARY CODE; (2) the concentration of all administrative power in the hands of a single state COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, who has a staff of experts to direct special lines of health work; and (3) a well- organized scheme of cooperation between the state department and local health authorities.
LOCAL ORGANIZATION FOR HEALTH PROTECTION
The absence or weakness of local organization for health protection has been one of the obstacles to progress in physical well-being in the United States. Driven by an appalling death rate and frequent epidemics, our large cities have developed health departments which in many cases have proved very effective. But in smaller communities, while health departments or health officers usually exist, the organization has for the most part been very ineffective. The people themselves have not been sufficiently aroused to their needs and to methods of meeting them. New York and Massachusetts are among the most progressive states in this matter. Each local community in these states (town, village, or small city) has its board of health and health officer; but these communities are grouped into HEALTH DISTRICTS (8 in Massachusetts, 20 in New York), each district being in charge of a health officer appointed by the state commissioner or board of health. In New York the district health officer, who is there called the SANITARY SUPERVISOR, has the following duties:
To keep informed regarding the work of each local health officer within his sanitary district.
To aid the local health officers in making health surveys of the community under their control.