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

November, 1951The Health Bulletinas a medium for fighting tubercvilosistheir importance in working with schoolshas been recognized. Today as in thepast they are accepting challengingopportiinities to make significant contributionsto school health, using allof the schools—professional, medical,schools of nursing, colleges, high schoolsand even the elementary schools.Professional schools are being aidedin the organization and financing ofstudy programs, by providing scholarshipsor fellowships and by assistingwith special institutes, conferences andworkshops. We are particularly proud ofthe special training courses that we havesupported at the University of NorthCarolina and the North Carolina Collegeat Durham. These courses include healtheducation workshops, nurse trainingcourses and for the past two years acourse at Chapel Hill dealing with thesocial services of the tuberculous and hisfamily. Students in the medical schoolsare supplied with special literature ontuberculosis. The tuberculosis problemin the state and the program for controlare being interpreted to the students inmany of the state's colleges. Pact-findingcommittees of high school studentsare promoted to create an Interest onthe part of the students and developan appreciation for the efforts put forthin TB control. Case-finding is also promotedin high schools. In the elementaryschools the policy has been to promotegood general health practices. Thishas been attempted through in-servicetraining for teachers. Recently the materialsin the state adopted healthtextbooks have been supplemented. Theefforts in the school are cooperative,and cooperatively we are seeking togreatly expand the school health program.Mass media are employed also. Formletters go out to local associations overthe state which treat a variety of subjects.The New Letter carries a columnon "What's New" which describes neweducational materials. Abstracts andbulletins are sent to local doctors andarticles are prepared for newspapersand radio. Talks, consultation, movies,filmstrips, etc. are offered to PTA's,Civic organizations and other specialgroups throughout the state. An informationalservice is maintained andfulfills imlimited requests for advice andrecommendations on educational materials.It was stated in the outset that educationwas the keynote in every phaseof the program. In case-finding educationhas been almost the sole weaponemployed by the seals on the state level.Seals in local communities supply inmany instances the personnel, facilitiesand education for participation.In terms of cost for hospitalization ofa relapsed tuberculosis case, it is notedthat the monetary involvement is usuallydoubled or tripled; making rehabilitationa must in meeting the needs of thetuberculous. Seals supplied grants forthe initial program in one of the statesanatoriums. The Rehabilitation Committeeof the North Carolina TuberculosisAssociation holds periodic meetingsto discuss and formulate plans for improvingthe state program.Another phase of the program whichthe seals helps to make possible is thatof research. There is no phase of tuberculosiswhich is not affected by research.It was research which was responsiblefor the discovery of the specific organismwhich causes tuberculosis—the tuberclebacillus; it was research which led tothe discovery aid in the detection oftuberculosis — the X-ray; it was research,coupled with experience, whichrevealed the value of rest in tuberculosistreatment; it was through research thatstreptomycin and PAS were discoveredthat undoubtedly better drugs for tuberculosistreatment will be found. Sealssend research fimds outside of the statebut they return not only to enable researchactivities to be carried on withinour own institutions but to bring resultsfrom the thirty-five medical researchprojects in 14 states and the Districtof Columbia.The Seal Sale Campaign is the initialstep that the seals take on their complicatedjourney of relieving humansufferings. We should not think of it interms of dollars and cents alone. TheSale itself is an educational mediimi and