Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898.
- Michigan. State Board of Health
- Date:
- 1898
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![g IT A RTEU-CITNTEN NIA L (. 'ELEJIB ATION able code tlio.se laws which in any slate have been I’onnd usel'iil in the protection of human health. Such a commission would engage lirst rate legal talent, experts in tin? administration of sanitary law, in the statis- tics, and in the chemistry and biology of hygiene, engineers having spe- cial training in sanitaiy works, men of wide experience and ripe judg- ment in the care of the deiiendent and delinquent classes, and in the education of children. iJap])y the stale which can associate in one un- dertaking seven, or nine, citizens possessing such qualilications. I doubt if in any state a committee of recognized authority upon these subjects could be assembled from the ranks of one political party. Such men would in their appointed work constantly confront questions of state-craft, and the more clearly they recognized that public health is an important object of ju-aclical jiolitics, the better would tlaw build against the vicissitudes of party, and the more scrupulously would they preserve the treasures new and old accumulated in the long history of hygiene. Our commission would have much in hand besides the organiza- tion of a State board of health, but they would have no more important work, nor any that we can consider on the present occasion. Looking at the numerous boai-ds of health, slate and local, one must be imj)ressed that the modern idea of a central sanitary authoritj' is immeasurably better than the older conception of a local sanitary au- thorit}^, in that it is designed to be, and usually is exempt from the depre- dations of J)arty trafhc. It is a propitious sign that in these alleged de- cadent days the science of state medicine shonhl havi* this immunity, for ui>on this vital (luality depends the str(Migth of the whole structure. The weakness of local boards in this regard sulliciently emphasizes with- out further argument the nee<l and value of a State board of health. The first need of a State board of health is a code of sanitary laws, covering all workable ground without gaps and capable of being am- plified without overla])ping. Such a. code will provide* before all things ehse, the information which alone can give* to the e*tfe)rts e»f the* board definite direction jinel measui’able e*ll'ect. It is met ne*e*e*ssary hei'e te> sjjeak at length of the value of ce)mple*te* systeunatie- re-gisti-atieen e>f vital statistics. The general ece)iiomic worth etf such registratie)u was I’ecog- nize*d long before its sjeecial utility was eliscovered by sanitai-ians. In- eleeel modei'u state meelicine may be* said tee be* the* unpre*me*elitateel as it is by far the richest result of the General Kegistralieni Act e>f 18311; and the foundations of sanitary legislatieen might not ye*t have* be*en securely laiel if the administratie>n of that act had been ceemmitteel to any othei- I'higlishman than the consummate master e»f statistie-al me*thods, Edwin Chadwick. The functie>n e>f vital statistics which is of the highest use to the sanitarian is to feirnish true, full, ami fresh information concerning the causes of death. As to the cause e»f eleath only a ]diysician e-an testify with authority, and he will sjteak nieist autheeritatively if his record be made at the time and ])lace of d(*ath. 'Phere is but one way to insure im- mediate registration, and that is to foi-bid any dis]iosition of a dead body until apro])er record is returned. The burial ]»(*rmit is the key to lu’ompt registi'ation, and without it no vital statistics law can be economically operated. An ini])ortant detail, omitted fi-om Amei-ican and English practice, is the vei’ification of deaths. The ]ihysician too oft(*n accej)ts the state- ment of an undertaker or friend that an (*xj)(*cted d(*ath has occurred, and certifies accordingly, lie makes no visit to substantiate the re])ort,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22335213_0068.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
