International projectionist (Jan 1943-Dec 1944)

Outlook for Tuberculosis Control By HERMAN E. HILLEBOE, M.D. MEDICAL DIRECTOR CHIEF, TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL DIVISION, U. S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE THE control of tuberculosis was one of the first activities in public health in which the cooperation of the public and professional people led to substantial progress in controlling the disease by the sheer power of public education. Early successes, however, were destined to encounter stubborn resistance as the disease retreated into strongholds less easy to discover and breach by ordinary methods of attack. The inevitable result will be a lag in the downward trend of morbidity and mortality unless some new development occurs which stirs the public interest and enables us to push ahead again. Recent scientific advances have awakened public interest in tuberculosis control. New technical developments in X-ray equipment now make it possible to apply this essential tool to millions of the population, instead of only thousands, hy means of small film mass radiography ■ — a simple, effective and cheap method of finding tuberculosis early. The war also has directed our attention to tuberculosis control because of the known increase in tuberculosis in wartorn European countries. Even in this country, all of the conditions favorable to the spread of the disease are present — crowding, fatigue, overwork, increased exposure, and mass migration of working people of low economic status, among whom the incidence of the disease is known to be high. Although there is not yet any nationwide increase in tuberculosis mortality in the United States, indications in certain parts of the country are that such a rise may soon become apparent. The stage is set then for a reversal of the favorable downward trend of mortality in this country unless something drastic is done to avert this threat. During the past two years the Public Health Service, working in cooperation with the state and local health departments and tuberculosis associations, has carried on pilot demonstrations in mass case-finding with small film photofluorography. The great significance of the findings has been the fact that 62 per cent of the cases discovered in our surveys are in the minimal stage of the disease when chances for recovery are excellent with proper care. This is in sharp contrast with the fact that only 10 per cent of persons coming to clinics or physicians for the first time for care are in the minimal stage of the disease. We are under no illusion, however, that the discovery of one or a thousand or a million cases of tuberculosis will alter the course of the disease in this country unless the newly-discovered cases are given care and treatment sufficient to arrest the disease, or at least prevent them from spreading their sickness to others. The inter-relationship of poverty, ignorance and disease is nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in the prevalence of tuberculosis. The greatest havoc is worked among low-income groups. The colored population is at the bottom of the economic ladder. No plan to rid America of tuberculosis can overlook the close alliance of poverty and disease in these under-privileged groups of our population. Among the large numbers of cases revealed by mass radiography, there are more than 130.000 young men and women rejected by the examining and induction stations of the armed forces. Already many veterans of World War II have been discharged because of tuberculosis. These two groups of young people in the principal wage-earning age groups merit special attention in nation-wide planning for tuberculosis control. Now is the time to attack tuberculosis iii every part of the country, with the objective in view not only to control the disease but actually to eradicate it. The foundation for such an enterprise has been laid by the National Tuberculosis Association by its sustained and successful program of public health education. The job can be done if official and voluntary agencies will pool their resources on a local level and make a frontal attack on a broad front. To achieve our final objective, our immediate aims must be definite and specific. Here is what must be done: 1. Chest X-ray examination for the entire population, concentrating first on the vulnerable groups and the family contacts of newly-discovered cases. This does not exclude the use of pre-X-ray tuberculin testing among selected groups with low infection rates. 2. Follow-up of every case discovered in X-ray examinations, in order to insure clinical diagnosis and proper treatment. This would include supervision by physicians in private offices or clinics, assisted by public health nurses; santorium care; protective supervision after discharge, and rehabilitation where indicated. 3. Periodic examination, including chest X-ray, of persons with inactive disease. 4. Prompt treatment for active cases which can make a good recovery. 5. Strict isolation of open cases to prevent further spread of the disease. 6. Intensified health education activities among the general population, patients and their families. This can well be done by local tuberculosis associations. 7. Expanded research in tuberculosis and public health methods. 8. Financial aid to the tuberculosis breadwinner. Only if this nation recognizes tuberculosis in all its aspects as of national public concern, as cause of suffering and death, and treats it medically, socially and economically, shall we be enabled to conquer it. If it be so recognized, the outlook for control is encouraging and with hard work and joint effort, eradication is possible within our generation. RCA FIELD MEN HOLD CONFERENCE ON POST-WAR 16-MM PLANS A series of conferences has just been concluded by regional sales representatives for RCA 16-mm motion picture sound and projection equipment at the home offices in Camden, N. J. The men met with home office executives and discussed current and post-war distribution plans. The regional men, who were in Camden for about ten days, are Harry E. Ericksoh. Chicago; Max Heidenreich, Atlanta, and Raymond A. Hudson, New York. Home office participants included Barton Kreuzer, manager of the sound equipment section; 0. V. Swisher, manager of the 16-mm commercial department, and A. G. Petrasek, commercial engineer on 16-mm equipment. Improving Projector Fire -Valves By E. R. PEAKE MEMBER, LOCAL NO. 634, SUDBURY, ONT-, CANADA THE magazine fire-valve is one of the most important and at the same time one of the most neglected parts of a projector. With most present-day equipment the fire-valve is built into and forms a part of the magazine or projector head, and as a general rule, a major operation is required to remove or replace it. A suggestion for improvement here is to make the fire-valve of unit construction, and the complete unit may then be fastened in place in the magazine with machine screws. This makes for easy inspection and cleaning, as the job may be done very simply by removing and replacing the unit as readily as the projec tion lens may be removed and replaced. After a period of time, when the valve rollers become worn, the manufacturers' close tolerances are lost and the valves' fire extinguishing efficiency is lost or disappears altogether. With the unit construction, however, the complete valve may be replaced with a new one at small expense and at the same time the useful life of the valve will be increased considerably due to the ease with which the unit may be removed for more frequent inspection. In addition, the danger of scratched prints resulting from worn or "'stuck" rollers will be reduced to a minimum. 20 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST