ORGANIZATION FOR PROTECTING HEALTH 403 



those followed by the medical practitioner. In both cases there 

 is need for a fairly large organization of many kinds of workers. 



The importance of preventing disease, as distinguished from 

 keeping people in fit condition and from curing sick people, has 

 been recognized in the organization of public-health service for 

 the nation at large, and in recent years there has been increased 

 cooperation among nations for the study of health problems and 

 for the prevention of epidemics. 



300. Research and education. As new problems are constantly 

 arising, new investigations need constantly to be made, and 

 those who have the special ability for this kind of work find 

 opportunity to use their talents and to serve mankind. ]\Iuch of 

 the research bearing upon health and disease is carried on in 

 the official laboratories of health departments of cities, states, 

 and nations ; a great deal is carried on in medical schools ; but 

 a great deal more is being done in special institutes, such as the 

 Rockefeller Institute and other endowed laboratories, and in 

 laboratories devoted to specialized problems in biology, chemis- 

 try, pharmacy, psychology, and other branches of science. 



The results of these researches are as a rule very technical and 

 of immediate use or interest only to specialists. They must be 

 gradually combined with other knowledge and put into forms 

 that the general public can use. The collection of this mate- 

 rial for wider distribution depends upon such organized agencies 

 for informing the public as newspapers, magazines, lecture 

 bureaus, schools, broadcasting stations, and motion-picture pro- 

 ducers, and such voluntary organizations as the tuberculosis 

 societies, the Red Cross, the Public Health Association, the 

 jNIental Hygiene Association, the American Social H^^giene As- 

 sociation, the Child Health Association, and so on. Much valu- 

 able work along these lines is also being done by some of the 

 larger life-insurance companies. Finally, we must not overlook 

 the professional organizations, such as the academy of medicine 

 and the dental society, which are constantly bringing to their 

 members the results of experience and research, and so fitting 

 them for better service in the interests of the public health. 



