Medicine: Health Survey

The American Medical Association and the National Education Association last week published a revision brought almost up to date of the health survey of the U. S. they made six years ago. Observations:

Exclusive of ordinary illness the U. S. has about 75,000 blind, 45,000 deaf and dumb, 300,000 mental defectives, 700,000 persons crippled so that they cannot earn their living. Maintaining those handicapped individuals costs $100,000,000 yearly. Deaths from tuberculosis cause a national loss of $1,500,000,000 yearly. Taxpayers yearly pay $800,000,000 to support tubercular victims, $90,000,000 for heart cases, $37,000,000 for the physically handicapped—a total of $927,000,000.

During the past 30 years the country’s general death rate has been cut in half— from 2% to 3% before 1900 to less than 1.2% now. In 1900 more than 16 of 100 babies died before they were one year old. Now only 7 of 100 die. By teaching the public to use typhoid-paratyphoid vaccines and diphtheria antitoxins and toxin-antitoxins mortality in these diseases has been cut 95%.