The Environment, the Community and Tuberculosis

¹ Field Director, the Suburban Cook County Tuberculosis Sanitarium District, Forest Park, Illinois

During the year 1963 in the United States, a total of 54,042 new active tuberculosis cases were reported for the first time. This total gave an attack rate of 28.7 per 100,000 population. Reported deaths totalled 9,311, a death rate of 4.9 per 100,000. The above figures conclusively prove that the disease tuberculosis is still a major communicable disease problem. Although we have had declining numbers of cases and deaths reported for quite a number of years, the disease still remains a challenge to the medical profession and to community organization.

This presentation outlines the major problems of distribution in our large American cities and their suburbs and the practical approach to solving these problems.

The medical profession at the present time has enough knowledge not only to control, but to eradicate this disease. We admit this is not a simple problem, since it means the total cooperation of the medical and allied professions plus the education of the public and the person who contracts the disease. The cooperation of the patient with the program of treatment is the most important single factor.

Various avenues of approach to discovering the disease, treating the patient, protecting the contacts and alerting the public have been discussed. Some of these recommendations have already become practice in many metropolitan areas. However, lack of vision and limited funds, as well as a lack of qualified personnel have delayed the application of some of these measures.

The challenge to each of us is to do all in our power to use the knowledge we have, to raise the funds we need, to teach the facts as we know them and to do the job that lies before us.