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

February, 1955 The Health Bulletin 15Una.I'd like to express some of mythoughts as Dr. Mezera's words fellupon the ears of a pediatrician vitallyinterested in the things of which hespeaks:I am immediately cognizant of hisawareness of the fact that tomorrow'scitizen is but the continued growth oftoday's child and of the importancehe attaches to every item and detailinfluencing the growth and developmentof that child from conceptionthrough birth, infancy, childhood andadolescence.I am reminded—by Dr. Mezera's quotationfrom the Children's Charter fromthe White House Conference—of aBritish naval captain who stood onthe bridge of his ship when it sailedalong the African coast in the 19thcentury. It was loaded with many ofHis Majesty's troops and their families.The ship struck an unchartedrock, and it was immediately apparentthat she would sink. It was also apparentthat there were not enough lifeboats to accommodate the number ofpersons aboard. (Hence Dr. Mezera'sthought-provoking title "How ShallThey Survive?") The captain saw hisduty and set a precedent followed sinceby practically all mankind. He calledthe ship's crew to their stations; calledthe troops in formation at attention onthe decks before him, and ordered:"You men at attention will stand fast.Ship's crew, lower the life boatswomen and children go first!" and thatwas the way it went—and has in everydisaster since then.Dr. Sture Siwe stated it in 1948:"Everything in the world revolvesaround the mother. The new generationis being formed by her, while thefather is engaged in pursuing his specialinterests. Men may create workof more or less lasting value, yet onlythe mothers of children are forminglives and shaping human beings." Itstill stands that maternal and childhealth and welfare are the sine quanon in health and social planning.I'm glad Dr. Mezera read from thereport of the committee for child healthservices of the American Academy ofPediatrics in 1949, in which it wasparticularly stated that there can beno difference of opinion about theright of every child to receive preventivehealth services from either privatepractitioners or public health agencies.I should also like to add a part ofthe report of a committee representingthe American Academy of Pediatrics,the American Pediatric Society and theMaternal and Child Health AdvisoryCommittee of the U. S. Children'sBureau, which was unanimously acceptedby the members of the Academy.It committed them to the following objective:"To make available to allmothers and children of the UnitedStates all essential preventive, diagnostic,and curative medical servicesof high quality which, used in cooperationwith other services for children,will make this country an ideal placefor children to grow into responsiblecitizens." Hence the academy undertooka nationwide study, and NorthCarolina was selected as the pilot statefor study of existing facilities and servicesfor medical and health care ofchildren.The North Carolina Pediatric Societyundertook the responsibility forthis pilot study, and the complete report—finallypublished in a supplementto the North Carolina Medical Journalin 1948—cited:1. The dire need for an AdvisoryCommittee on Child Health representingall agencies in the state with majorinterests in child health;2. The need for subsidies for physiciansin areas of need, including betterdistribution of hospital facilities;3. The need for more opportunitiesfor training in child health;4. The need for rapid expansion ofcommunity health services;5. The need for a total increase inhospital facilities;6. The need for a program for prematureand other newborn infants.But remember this is the pediatricians'viewpoint of 6 years ago. Remembertoo that in 1948 79% of theprivate physicians' care received by