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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$with woiKlcrful proHcicncc what lh«‘ work of tlio Board sliouhi be tmd what niifiht be ijjiined by the peojth* if tlial work were carried out. One portion of tin* work for the Board to do, which lie pai'ticularly (Mn[)hiiHi/.ed, was “to educate the people in reaped to the nature and carnation of diseases and Jhe means for their prevention.'■ Bolhjwinj; this dirt'ction of its tirst l*resid(*nt, the Michifran Itoard of Jlcjiith has most ja'rsistently carried on ti ciunpaij'n of education, di- rected agiiinst the ij^nortince of vittil truths resjiectin^ their own bodily welfare which ]>revailed anionj; the <j;rejil mass of the peojih*. 'I’o j^et tin? people to think, it 1ms distributed broadcast millions of paj^c'S of printed instruction concerning; those diseases that w(U(? dan- f;crous to the jmblic health. It has held sanitary conventions in almost every city and villai;e in the State*, for the more immediate* aremsinj; of peipular inte*rest ami te> lead the jieeijile te> act. It has calleel public at- tention, unceiusingly, to the simple means of preventinj; disease. It has <*nlisteel the nmst ceirdial co-operation of the Meelical jireifession in its lue*ventivo weirk, thus takinp; bread emt eif the* docleir's mouths as it were. It has insiureel the law makers te> enact the necessary k*{;i»hition te> compel the jieople to be healthy. It has createel a spirit of e*mulatie)ii amemj; public eillicials to enfeirce such laws, anel, greatest of all its educa- tiemal weirk, it has maele* the teaching eif sanitary measures compulsory in the* schoe)ls of the State. This great idea for the e*ducalion of youth was, I believe, lirst urged uiion the jmblic by Dr. Baker, the Secretary of the Board, at a Sanitary Convention, held in Albion in this State, in 18H7, Like other great ideas for the jmblic weal it dev(*loj)cd slowly, but in ISb.j it became a law of the State. The law is as follows: Ad No. J46, Laws of 1895 An Act to provide for teaching in the piihlic sehooLs, flie inodes liy which tlie danger- ous communicable diseases are spread and the best methods for the restriction and l»revention of such diseases. ^Skction 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That tliere sliall he tauglit ill every year in every public school in Miclilgan the principal modes by wliicii eacli of the dangerous communicable diseases is spread, and the best metliods for the restriction and prevention of each such disease. The Slate Hoard of Health shall annually send to the public school superintendents and teachers throughout tliis State printed data and statements which sliall enable them to comply with tills act. School boards are hereby required to direct such superin- tendents and teacliers to give oral and blackboard Instruction, using the data and statements supplied by tlie State Board of Health. Sec. 2. Neglect or refusal on the part of any superintendent or teaclier to com- ply witli the provisions of tliis law, shall be considered a sutlicient cause for dis- missal from the school by tlie school board. Any school board -wilfully neglecting or refusing to comply with any of the provisions of this act, shall be subject to line or forfeiture, tlie same as for neglect of any other duty pertaining to their office. This act shall apply to all schools in this State, including scliools in cities or vil- lages, whether incorporated under special charter or under the general laws. What a possibility for incalculable good is embodied in this law. In the State of Michigan there are about half a million school children en- rolled, with sixteen thousand teachers, whose duty it is to teach to them the simjile facts of sanitary science. Facts rather than theories are taught, and we all know that a fact simjily taught, at a time of life when$