The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

February, 1955 The Health Bulletin 9HOW SHALL THEY SURVIVE?L. R. MEZERA, M.D., DirectorMaternal and Child Health, Kentucky State Board of HealthMay I ask your indulgence to moreor less introduce the theme of this:"How Shall They Survive?" AlthoughI shall specifically limit myself to survivalin the area of maternal and childhealth, we as public health workersmust consider the total environmentbecause mankind in its search for survivaland longer life has banded togetherin community life as one meansfor reaching the objective of its search.As a natural result of a communitybanding together some organization orgoverning body had to come into thepicture. With this type of setup thenext step was logical—the people beganlooking to their government in a furthersearch for survival. This search,as you all know, was fruitful. Publichealth came into being and a salientresponsibility was accepted, namely, theresponsibility of safeguarding thehealth of all people. Specifically, thisresponsibility became a mandate—lifemust be saved, health must be preserved.With this mandate before us weprivileged public servants are meetingat this time to also search for meansand methods of performance to complywith the mandate and to renderthe duty and service inherent in ourjobs as public health workers.We must recognize the demand forgood health and longer life, and wemust come up with the answers toquestions such as "What shall bedone?" "Who shall do it?" "How shallit be done?" We cannot sit idly bycontent merely to gather informativestatistics relative to human morbidityand mortality. We must provide foran adequacy of follow-up. A constructiveprogram must be the result of acareful and scrutinizing survey of localactivities. This survey, when care-Paper delivered at 1954 Annual MeetingXorth Carolina Public Health AssociationSeptember 23, 1954, Raleigh, N. C.fully obtained, should, when evaluatedin proper scope, then point out pertinentproblems as to their existenceand their reality. Then, and only then,can we come up with a program ofsurvival, a program of preventing unnecessaryillness, a program of salvage,a program of prevention of needlessdeaths. Progress requires continuingchange and improvement, and we stillhave a long, hard road ahead of us.Our currently accepted philosophythat a community is bounden to do forits people that which they cannot dofor themselves is what motivates us.We have accepted this philosophy aspart of the mandate from the people.A condition which increases the burdenof the community is demanding of ourattention, and preventive efforts mustbe expended to lower the burden anddecrease the load. Economic productivity,standards of living, ways of life,all are in jeopardy if we fail to acceptthe concept that our people have aright and a duty to demand and takemeasures for the prevention of illnessand the preservation of life. The goaltoward which to strive is the creationof an environment in which there willbe no human suffering or prematuredeaths.This brief introduction leads me intothe specific field of maternal and childhealth. "How Shall They Survive?"I approach this subject with timidity.The expanse of maternal and childhealth is infinite. There is no segmentof life that can be divorced from thearea encompassing the mother andchild. Here again we find a circle withoutend.Despite tremendous strides in recentyears, many mothers continue todie, and many deaths still occur ininfancy and childhood, deaths thatneed never occur if we would but explorethe reasons for their occurring.As an approach to a program of salvage,I must refer you to certain sec-