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

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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$sjiiiitiiriaiis will be able by one (»r a liiiiulreil modern instances to ini[)iess this lesson dee])ly upon the jiopnlar mind. Kather will the averaj^e citizen perversely draw the siiif^le conclusion that yellow fever in Cuba and typlioid fever in the next block are equally j»aitry public (inestions. Kilt the barriers of jiojmlar misapprehension are not immovable, and it is the very highest function of a State board of health to remove them. This is a labor demanding inlinite jtatience and tact, and those of ns who do not jiossess these great virtues often wish that we might try upon our refractory pupils the educational etlect of severely ])unitive laws. It is fortunate that legislatures will not jiermit us to enqiloy tliese strenuous methods. The education of the i»eo]de must jiroceed slowly but it may be pushed forward steadily and somewhat systematically. -Many State boards ])ublish sanitary bulletins which are of some educa- tional value*, but it is a fair criticism upon all suclq publications that they do not meet nor do they create any considerable ])oj)ular interest. Those who i*ead them must possess a tolerably advanceel education in hygiene. In our medical schools the t(*aching of hygiene is feeble and ]K*rfunc- tory, having little or no weight in examination for the degr(*e, so that even the medical men in this connti-y hav(*. as a Hass. litth‘ inllu(*nee or authbrily upon the subject. In England s|)eeial eoui‘s(*s h*ading to the degree of lloctor of Sanitary Sciema* hav(* be(*n er(*al(*d, and hygic'm* has ]>roper rank among the subjects of final (*xamination foi* the degrees in medicine and surgery. To bring about a similai* advance in -\m(*rican medical education is a worthy enterprise for State boai-ds of health. Hygiene as taught in the public schools is coneerm*d (*.\elusively with liersonal health, and propagates chiefly the somewhat contracted views of certain moral reformers. It is to be ho])ed that State boards of health Avill some day create a demand for far bettei* instruction of youth in the ])i inciples of hygiene than boards of education now provide. The Michi- gan Koaid of Health has recently been successfully laboring to this end, both at home and abroad. The reception aceordc'd to the ])aj)cr of Pro- fessor Delos Fall at the National Educational Association would s(M*m to ])romise that other states will not allow Michigan a very long start in legislation on this subject. The ^richigan Teachers’ Sanitary Kulletin lias also lately aj)peared, and as the way for it Avas well ]»re])ared in the -Vet of 18f)o concerning insti'uction in hygiene in the ])ublic schools, the I)ublication has entered upon a career* of growing influence. The sanitary convention or association is of high influence in this wni*k. The conference of health officers is of ]»rimarily technical interest, and its effect on ])ublic sentiment cannot be dii*ect. or widespread. The Sanitary Convention, as managed in ^fichigan, has the same strong ])oints that we have noted in tJieir distribution of popular literature on infectious disease. Th(*y are only held in response to local invitation, some es])ecial need of such a convention being ahvays then and there jrresent. They are not emergency or calamity meetings; still less are they bon-bon parties given by ambitious towns. They are serious public assemblies to discuss some timely topic. The locality is always i*equired to conti'ibnte its full share to the program, and to arouse in advance as much ])0])ulai* interest as possible. The influence of each of these con- ventions u])on tin* community in Avhich it is held must be lasting, and oucfht, it seems to me, to be lively enough to bring about the formation of local .sanitary associations.$