294 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



PRACTICAL VALUE OF FULL TIME HEALTH 

 OFFICERS 



E. W. Weis, M. D., Director, Hygienic Institute, 



LaSalle 



It seems superfluous to attempt to advance any argu- 

 ments in favor of a proposition that is obvious to any 

 one that will give it a moment's attention. Unfortunate- 

 ly, however, people are so constituted that they will not 

 give serious consideration to the apparent, simple things 

 of life whose results stand for everything that we would 

 like in the way of better health, increased longevity, 

 greater physical efficiency, and more happiness. Prob- 

 ably the reason for the great indifference of the people 

 at large is due to the fact that the ordinary individual 

 depends upon the State or the Municipality to provide 

 whatever protection is necessary. While this is now 

 true, in the main due to our more thorough knowledge 

 of the cause of deteriorating conditions, it has become a 

 question of individual as well as State responsibility. 

 The individual, however, does not like to sacrifice his 

 convenience for the public good ; therefore the Public to 

 defend itself must resort to preventive measures, mak- 

 ing observance of well known rules and regulations com- 

 pulsory, and for the better carrying out of these princi- 

 ples men trained specifically to this work emphasize the 

 practical value of a full-time health officer. 



That this condition has been appreciated is proven by 

 the fact that many colleges now give special courses and 

 training in public health work, many societies have been 

 organized whose deliberations are only on this line. 

 Many journals now devote all of their pages to prevem 

 tive medicine and to public health endeavors. Yet with 

 all of this we are woefully lacking in sufficient good ma- 

 terial to present the message properly. Public health, 

 service for years and years has been dealt with in a hap- 

 hazard sort of fashion, and because of the fact that we 

 are not daily threatened by an epidemic that takes a 

 large toll of lives, we become indifferent, and the custom 

 has grown to employ some man with a slight knowledge 

 to carry on this work. This means the part-time man. 



