reading. We now have nearly ten thousand names on our mailing list and it is constantly growing. In this connection we may note that through the April bulletin we last year attempted to institute throughout the State a general clean-up week. His Excellency, Governor Hatfield, had his attention called to the fact that the Governor of Indiana had issued a proclamation appointing a "Public Health Day," and consulted the Secretary on the propriety of following this example. The Secretary addressed to him a communication, in which was given from an Indiana paper a description of a health parade in Anderson, Indiana, and added: "I saw this public health parade in a series of moving pictures exhibited by Dr. Hurty, Secretary of the Indiana State Board of Health at a recent meeting of sanitarians and was greatly impressed not only with the Anderson idea of a street health parade on Public Health Day, but with the educational influence of moving pictures and stereoptican views of a suitable kind. These have been used in other states under the direction of the Health Boards, and I have suggested to our Board that we introduce them into our state, but the Board thought that our appropriation does not justify this at present. While in Randolph county recently, investigating scarlet fever, I consulted the proprietor of a moving picture show who said that he would be glad to use films of the kind I speak of, and that his charge would simply be the usual price of admission. I think we may later begin the use of some of these films in this modest way, which would entail no expense other than the purchase price of the films and the expenses of myself or some other person to lecture during the exhibition. All of the above leads me to say that I am emphatically in favor of the institution of a "clean-up week" next spring, one day of which shall be called Public Health Day. And it will be a great pleasure to me to see such a plan of public health education inaugurated in West Virginia by yourself, who, as an educated physician as well as governor of the state, can most appropriately institute what I consider to be an advanced step in public health education." As a result of this conference Governor Hatfield issued the following proclamation appointing a Public Health Day: PUBLIC HEALTH DAY Proclamation by the Governor of West Virginia. One of the most important duties of our government is the conservation of the health of the people, and we may well afford to pause and survey the situation which confronts us and learn what has been and can be accomplished in the conservation of the health of our people. For ages nations groped in darkness for want of knowledge, but the dawn of the sixteenth century gave to the old world Dr. Harvey, who broke the spell of superstition which had held the generations of the past as to the theory of what was contained in the tube-like structures which ramified every vestige of human tissue and which is now known as the vascular system. Following upon the heels of this discovery the immortal Jenner, in 1796, gave to the world a sure prevention against the contagion of variola. Then came Lister, who brought the dawn of modern surgery, with all of its accomplishments, the result of which has held humankind in amazement. Earnest men have spent their entire lives in bacteriological and biological laboratories searching for the eternal truth as to the cause as well as the cure of the many diseases and they have furnished to the present generation knowledge not known to those of the past. The application of this knowledge assures an immunity, almost complete, against the different infectious and contagious diseases, and it is the duty of every informed citizen to impart this knowledge to those with whom he comes in contact, and it is also his duty to see that health rules and regulations are properly enforced. For the benefit of those who are not properly informed, and for those who are in search of further information, it seems fitting that a day should be set apart with a view of bringing about the co-operation of all citizens for the purpose of seeking information and applying the knowledge so that the result will be a concerted effort of one and a half million people to eliminate from our State the thousands of cases of preventable disases which we now have yearly. Therefore I, Henry D. Hatfield, Governor of West Virginia, do hereby designate and set apart Monday, April nineteenth, of the year nineteen hundred and fifteen, to be observed as Public Health Day. In preparation for the duties of this day I recommend that on the Sunday preceding from every pulpit in the State shall be proclaimed the solemn obligation that rests on society and on the individual to work for clean and healthful conditions of living, for the removal of known causes of disease, and for the dissemination of a knowledge of those principles that underlie an efficient preservation of physical and social hygiene. I further recommend that on the day set apart as Public Health Day in every city, town and village, and in every farm home there shall be inaugurated by men and women both organized and individual efforts for a thorough cleaning and disinfection of all places where the germs of disease may lurk. I suggest that wherever possible meetings shall be called and arrangements made for public discussion of methods for the prevention of disease and for the conservation of the public health, and I urge all physicians and health officers to co-operate in arousing public interest in this matter which so vitally concerns the welfare of all our people. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State to be affixed. Done at the Capitol, in the City of Charleston, this the fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, and in the fifty-first year of the State. By the Governor STUART F. REED, Secretary of State. HENRY D. HATFIELD. The April Bulletin was devoted largely to impressing the necessity of bringing about improvement in cleanliness and the constant maintaining of such condition, in order to insure the healthfulness of our people. A number of instructive articles were printed to aid the people in improving sanitary conditions. While we have information that the week was observed as suggested in a number of places, the work of clean-up was not as generally instituted as desired. It is hoped that another effort in this direction will meet with better results. If clean-up week can once be made the fashion, it will be a success, and to bring about this fashion the women's clubs can be a very important factor. Trachoma Hospital. The Board has been negotiating with the Surgeon-General of the U. S. Public Health Service with a view to securing the establishment of a hos pital in Wyoming, or in McDowell County for the treatment of trachoma. An investigation made some time ago by Surgeon Clark of the Public Health Service discovered a large number of cases of this disease in the above and a number of other counties in the southwestern part of the State. This is an infectious disease of the eyelids which leads to great damage to the eyes, total or partial blindness not infrequently resulting in the old neglected cases. The government Health Service has rendered most valuable aid in relieving and curing these cases by establishing hospitals in the regions badly infected in some of the States, but this is done in co-operation with the State Boards which are expected to share in the expenses attending the erection and conduct of the hospitals. The Public Health Service sends experienced surgeons and nurses to conduct the treatment of the cases, and care for those needing indoor treatment. We hope that ere long we may be able to secure one or more such institutions for our state. Hook Worm Disease. The question of hook worm disease has been carefully considered by the Board. A thorough investigation of this disease in the Pocahontas coal field conducted by Prof. Shultz and assistants last year, resulted in finding the hook worm or the eggs in but three per cent of twelve hundred persons examined, and in no cases were the general systemic symptoms of the disease found. It was therefore determined, in view of the limited amount of our appropriation, that further investigation be postponed. Instruction as to the cure and prevention of hook worm disease has been given to the coal companies and the people in the region referred to, and further instruction will be sent out in our quarterly bulletins. Hygienic Laboratory. In another part of this report will be found an account of the work of the laboratory for the year ending June 1, 1915. The work of this institution is constantly on the increase, and since the Public Service Commission, in co-operation with the Public Health Department, is contemplating the periodical examination of the water supplied to patrons by every water utility in the state, an additional burden will soon be put upon the laboratory. It will therefore become a necessity to establish several branch laboratories to take a part of the burden from the laboratory at Morgantown, and also to render speedy service to physicians by examination of swabs from the throat and nose in suspected diphtheria, to determine a diagnosis, and also to determine when it is safe to release patients from quarantine; also to examine sputum from suspected tuberculosis, spinal fluid in epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis etc. This is provided for by the law of 1915, and the Board will establish such branch laboratories as soon as suitable arrangements can be made. Reports of Infectious Diseases. The Commissioner of Health has great trouble in securing proper and prompt reports of infectious diseases. The law provides that every phy sician shall report such cases to the County Health Officers on penalty of a severe fine for failure to do so. To secure aid from this department in the control of disease, it is necessary that early information be secured. Unfortunatly the law requires that reports of these diseases shall be sent to the Health Board only every three months. We shall, in the coming year, make an earnest effort to secure a more frequent report of these cases, and earnestly call upon our physicians to render service in the control of disease by promtply reporting their infectious cases as the law requires. We are loath to make any effort to have fines imposed upon our professional brethren, but if entreaties oft repeated fail to secure the desired result, it may be necessary to enforce the law, even though some physicians are made to suffer. The same may be said as to reports of births and deaths. The majority of death reports reaching this office are made out by undertakers and other laymen. Hence we have the most absurd causes of death named, and a large number are marked "unknown". It is doubtful if, with our. present laws, we can ever secure accurate mortality statistics. There should be a law that forbids the burial of the dead until the undertaker receives from a health authority a burial permit based upon a certificate of death to be furnished by the attending physician. Unlicensed Physicians. It seems necessary again to call attention to the fact that the State still has a considerable number of physicians practicing in violation of law. Some of these are men who have taken regular courses of medical study, but have failed successfully to pass the examination required by the law. Others are physicians brought from other states as assistants to licensed physicians. Such men have in a number of cases been led into error by their employers, and are not always aware that they are violating the law. Others still are grossly ignorant men who are imposing upon the people, delaying their proper treatment by skilled physicians, and filching from them their hard-earned money. We deem it a health measure of no small importance to end the career of such impostors, and have succeeded in doing so in a number of cases. Unfortunately juries in some cases where the evidence of the violation of law was abundant, have failed to convict. In such cases jurymen are encouraging violation of law, and at the same time encouraging people to postpone the treatment of their ailments by educated physicians. The promise of cure made by the fakers is the cause of people being misled, for no truly scientific practitioner will lure his patrons by promises to cure, of the fulfillment of which promise there can seldom be entire certainty. |