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

8 The Health Bulletin April, 1951Cher recently asked students to getonthe leaflets she gave them— thesignatures of every adult who read theleaflet. Some of those leaflets were returnedliterally covered with autographs.The difference education makes isclearly evident in the state's oldest CancerDetection Center, where, in 1948,less than half the cancers diagnosedwere early or curable. Today threefourths of the cancers found are found"in time."The American Cancer Society can'tspend $3,000 on a single case of cancer.But, with the very dollar you give, wemay buy enough education for veteransto save the VA and the American taxpayerover $100,000!A dollar can buy a lot of Tar Heellives!INDiVIDUAL HEALTHDr. Hubert A. Royster,Contributing EditorMuch is being said and done for theand itpromotion of the public health,is without question one of the vitalthings of this age. To those engaged inpreventing disease and making theworld a more healthful place to live inthis generation will owe its greatestachievement. In North Carolina, as inother States, health matters are beingmanaged commendably and great creditis due our legislators, medical officials,and some intelligent laymen forthe increasing interest everywheremanifested. I believe that progress isbeing made.But (and this "but" will represent anaddition rather than an antithesis) wemust go behind the returns, if the campaignis to be really successful. Publichealth problems can not be thoroughlysettled in the herd. In other words, wemust go after the individual and thenoiu- task will be the promotion of individualhealth as the basis of soundpublic health. I do not mean to say thatwe should neglect our opportunities ofreaching the people collectively, but ourappeal, I think, should always be to theindividual. We must teach him, warnhim, encourage him, reason with him,set him a good example. So shall heleaven the lump.The query, "Am I my brother's keeper?"has been answered in the affirmativeby all those who are altruistically•Reprinted from the February, 1912 HealthBulletinconcerned in public health. I believe justas firmly that we are also our own keepers.If I am a healthy person, I am ofvalue to the community as a worker andrelieve it of a bmrden; if I am sick, temporarilyor permanently, I become adrag and a tax in proportion to my disability.Such facts are well understood.How necessary, then, that each individualshould keep himself at all times inthe best possible condition. This is thedoctrine to preach. Herbert Spencergave out the text years ago: "Perhapsnothing will so much hasten the timewhen body and mind will both be adequatelycared for as the diffusion of thebelief that the preservation of healthis a duty. Few seem conscious thatthere is such a thing as physical morality."There are, of course, numbers of peoplewho are not responsible for theirstate of health. Many are handicappedat the start; others are not to blame forconditions that arise afterward, throughno fault of their own. Some are bornsick, some achieve sickness, and somehave sickness thrust upon them. Everyone is expected to do his best with whathe has. The way to health is throughright living. So that, besides educatingthe public to avoid disease, it is essentialto train the individual to liveright. This is the old theory of vitalresistance. We can escape sickness intwo ways—either by getting out of itsreach or by throwing it off when it