Other Measures of Public Health Protection.—The foregoing list does not exhaust the various measures taken by the authorities of the nation, state, and city for the protection of the public health. The laws and regulations which now prohibit the use of public drinking-cups on trains, in schools, and in other public places may be mentioned. The common cup has been, in the past, an active spreader of infection. Its use ought to be forbidden everywhere. Measures for the elimination of mosquitoes and house-flies have been taken by all the more progressive states and cities with aid at many points from the national government. The statement has been made, upon what seems to be good authority, that mosquitoes, flies, and other insect pests are directly or indirectly responsible for a hundred thousand deaths in the United States every year. Whatever their number, these deaths are preventable, because a diligent campaign will suffice to banish both flies and mosquitoes from any part of the country. The medical inspection of children in the schools is another health measure of great importance. In many of the larger cities this inspection includes all school children, of whatever age, and is made at frequent intervals. It permits the early detection of symptoms and thus allows remedies to be applied promptly. It has done a great deal to protect the schools against the frequent outbreak of epidemics.

How Health Measures are Enforced.—The duty of enforcing measures for the protection of the public health rests first of all upon the local health officers. |Local boards of health.| The laws of most states now require that a board of health or some similar authority shall be maintained in every township, village, town, and city. One of the members of this board of health must usually be a physician. In large towns and cities a qualified health officer, who is always a physician, is employed on part time or full time. The local boards of health and the health officers have charge of quarantine and disinfection, the inspection of food and milk, and the enforcement of sanitary regulations. They also grant permits for the maintenance of slaughter-houses and other establishments which have a direct or indirect relation to the public health.

State health officers.

In practically all the states, moreover, there is a State Department of Health. This department is usually under the supervision of a State Board of Health, but in a few states a single health commissioner has been placed in charge. The powers and duties of these state departments vary a good deal throughout the country, but in a general way they assist the local health authorities, especially when an epidemic threatens to spread beyond local control. A good deal of their work is advisory in character.

The United States Public Health Service

The United States Public Health Service was established in 1912, although health work had been carried on by the national government through other agencies prior to that date. It is, rather strangely, a bureau of the Treasury Department. The Public Health Service has charge of the port quarantine system; its assistance may be obtained by the states at any time in coping with epidemics; and it maintains well-equipped research laboratories for the study of all questions affecting the public health. It is believed by many physicians that the work of this bureau is so important that it ought to be made a regular department of the national administration with a member of the cabinet at its head.[[259]]

What the schools can do.

Education and the Public Health.—The basis of successful public health work is the education of people in hygiene and sanitation. If the people can be brought to realize the transcendent importance of the work, their co-operation will be given cheerfully. Where the health regulations are now disobeyed it is largely because their value to the individual, as well as to the community, has not been made clear. An effective method of educating the public is by means of health exhibits which demonstrate, with the aid of pictures, especially motion pictures, the value of proper hygienic conditions in the workshop and the home. But the ultimate education of the whole people in this field, as in all others, must be primarily the work of the schools. It is easier to teach hygiene and sanitation to children than to grown-ups. Adults have acquired habits of life and attitudes of mind which are hard to alter. Hence the education of children in all that relates to clean living, wholesome food, modern sanitation, and the avoidance of disease should be part of the regular work in schools throughout the country. Upon this will depend, in no small degree, the future physical well-being of the nation.

General References

H. G. James, Municipal Functions, pp. 68-92;