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[Narrator:] This is an average small town.
Population about 10,000.
Pleasant homes. Some industry.
Main Street.
One of the 10,000-odd inhabitants is Anne Wheeler, 14 years old
and a student at the local junior high.
And this is Roger Cartwright.
He too is 14 years old and goes to the same school Anne is attending.
There are lots of things we could tell you about Anne and Roger:
where they live, who their parents are,
what subjects they like at school.
But one thing we don't have to tell you; it's plain as day.
Anne and Roger are healthy, sturdy, physically fit. Nothing very remarkable about that.
For most young people these days, good health is something to be almost taken for granted.
Well then, have you ever stopped to think why these young people, like most of us,
don't have to worry about their health?
Why is that so? Take this glass of water, for instance.
What does a glass of water have to do with Anne's health?
It is quite simple, really.
When water falls from the sky as rain, it may be pure and fit to drink,
but as it runs toward the sea,
water may become polluted because industrial wastes are discharged into it,
and also because of the wastes coming from [inaudible] cities.
When a drop of such polluted water is observed under a microscope,
it can be seen that the water contains large concentrations of microorganisms,
which can cause disease like typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, for example.
Such microorganisms must be removed before we can safely drink the water.
In America, even small communities are assured of clean, healthy drinking water,
whether their water needs purification,
or whether it is pure to begin with and has not been contaminated.
The health department keeps a close watch over the supply to make sure
that only water that is safe to drink reaches the people of the community.
And just like water, food too can carry dangerous disease-producing organisms.
Therefore, to safeguard all members of the community against the many diseases
which can be spread by unclean food,
your local health department is concerned
with the purity of the many foods consumed by the people each day.
Rigorous standards of cleanliness are established for all places where food is processed and handled.
Everywhere the standards of cleanliness are enforced by frequent inspections.
To further safeguard the health of a community, proper disposal of garbage is essential.
If garbage is not properly disposed of,
disease organisms from the exposed garbage may be spread to food products
in homes or restaurants.
Improper disposal of sewage may also endanger the health of the community.
Rivers and streams may become polluted.
Swimming holes and beaches may be ruined for recreation because sewage is discharged
into the waters of the community. Such hazards must be eliminated.
Along with these responsibilities,
the local health department attempts in still other ways to prevent or limit the spread of communicable diseases.
Scientists in the health department help to identify individual cases of the various communicable diseases
by making laboratory tests at the request of local physicians,
and whenever it is necessary, the local health department will supply vaccines
and other immunizing agents to physicians and hospitals.
Today, most physicians vaccinate infants and small children
against smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus,
and other common diseases for which immunizing agents have been developed.
And school nurses, who are usually public health nurses working closely with the local health department,
keep careful watch on the health of students.
Health education is another important function of a local health department.
Pamphlets covering many aspects of achieving and maintaining good health
for all age groups are carefully planned and widely distributed.
Well, all this and much more is part of the picture
of why, today, we have good reasons to take good health almost for granted.
Anne and Roger can live in their community without too much danger from communicable diseases,
thanks largely to the work done by the local Department of Health,
but there are other agencies, the Red Cross, for example,
that supplement the work of the community health department.
They are voluntary health organizations supported by contributions and frequently staffed by volunteers.
Anne, as a volunteer in her local chapter of the Red Cross,
is helping to prepare emergency kits for use in a nearby disaster area,
one of the many jobs the Red Cross undertakes
to supplement the work of existing health agencies,
particularly in times of emergency.
And then there are the many other voluntary health agencies
concerned with the problems of specific diseases.
Some of these organizations are concerned with research,
others with rehabilitation and the tremendous burden of caring for the victims of the respective disease.
In many communities there are visiting nurse services
to provide home nursing care for bedridden patients.
The larger urban centers frequently have a safety council
to guard against the many accident hazards
which occur on the roads, in industry, and in the home.
And now, together with Roger, we will come upon still another safeguard
which helps maintain the health of a community.
Yes, the family doctor.
Nothing wrong with Roger, as far as he knows.
This is just a periodic checkup, a routine examination, to make sure.
Part of the job of a general practitioner is to treat his patients when they get sick,
but the community health part of his job is to prevent illness,
which is the chief purpose of periodic checkups.
By examining Roger carefully, looking for any telltale signs that might indicate the possible onset of illness
or some condition that needs correcting,
the doctor is helping to keep Roger well and the community healthy.
Family doctors like this one and all the other doctors,
the dentists, the specialists in the different branches of medicine,
the hospitals and clinics and the many laboratories that work with the doctors,
all are part of the network of people and organizations concerned with the health of the community.
Yes, Roger and Anne are pretty healthy young people,
thanks in part to the work of the community health services,
but these services could not function so well
without the active cooperation of young people and their parents,
of all the other people who live in the community.
In practically every community,
we have important rules requiring us to observe habits of cleanliness.
Good personal habits of cleanliness, besides helping to keep you healthy,
also reduce the chances of your infecting others with disease-bearing organisms which you may be carrying.
Also, everyone knows or should know
that bed is the best place for a cold,
because what seems to be nothing but a cold
may be the beginning of influenza or some other serious disease.
If you don't stay in bed,
you endanger not only your own health but also that of the other people in the community.
Roger and Anne understand the health problems of their community.
They, like the rest of us, must live by the rules of healthful living
for the sake of their own good health and for the health of their friends and neighbors.
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Community health is a responsibility shared by all citizens, young and old alike.
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How much do you know about the health services in your community?
What can you do to support or improve them?
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