A Working Plan for Colored Antituberculosis Leagues

by Charles Poindexter Wertenbaker

It is desirable to find cases of consumption in the earliest stages, for these may be cured, and if all members who are not strong and healthy are examined by the physician it is possible that cases of early consumption will be found.

Each ailing member should be visited by some of the committee and more careful inquiry made as to the nature of the trouble and the member urged to go to a physician or a dispensary for examination. This is especially true if the member has been losing flesh, or has had a cough for some time, or has throat trouble, or is sickly and frail. If upon examination the physician finds that the member has consumption, the patient should get a certificate stating that fact. The physician will also tell the patient what treatment is necessary.

The certificate will be presented to the committee by the patient, and the committee will make more careful inquiry into the condition of the patient, the treatment considered necessary by the physician, the patient’s means, the number of people he has depending upon him, etc., so that the facts may be presented to the executive board in accordance with the requirements of Article VII of the by-laws.

The list of the sick should be most carefully guarded and no one allowed to see it but the officers of the league and the health officers. This knowledge should be regarded as a sacred confidence that should not be divulged except to the persons mentioned above, as many might object to having it known that they have tuberculosis.

Under no circumstances should the list be allowed to fall into the hands of “patent medicine” concerns which might urge their nostrums on the patients, much to their annoyance and also to their detriment, if they become induced to take the “patent medicines.”

The measures necessary for the treatment of a patient who has tuberculosis must be determined by the physician, but it is the duty of the executive board to decide how much and what kind of help the league can give the patient in carrying out this treatment.

It is not proposed to discuss here the question of treatment in a sanatorium which is the ideal way of handling all cases of tuberculosis, for in a sanatorium the sick cease to be a menace to the community and can be under supervision and treatment all the time. Unfortunately, at present sanatoria are not available for the great mass of the people; and even if they were, many would be unable to go to them.

There is a class of patients who have to depend upon their daily labor for the support of themselves and their families. If they stop work, their support is cut off. For such as these treatment in a sanatorium is out of the question, and any treatment they can get must be given in their homes and frequently while they are working. To this class belong the great majority of the negroes; therefore the work of the church leagues must be directed to such help as can be given under these circumstances. What is necessary in each case will depend upon the condition of the patient, the stage of the disease, and the financial circumstances of the individual.

For the purposes of the league, consumptives may be divided into three classes:

First. The patients who are in the earlier stages of the disease and are able to go about their work while taking treatment.