A Working Plan for Colored Antituberculosis LeaguesWertenbaker, Charles Poindexter
Science
A Working Plan for Colored Antituberculosis Leagues
Wertenbaker, Charles Poindexter
Tuberculosis -- Prevention
The officers of the league can see that the instructions on the
certificate are understood and carried out. Many individuals are careless
and must be constantly watched to see that they do not neglect important
precautions. Probably the most difficult thing the league will have to do
will be to induce its members to keep their windows open and let fresh
air and sunlight into their rooms.
The officers and committees of the league should urge the members to
keep the windows of their rooms open, especially at night, and to avoid
overcrowding their sleeping rooms. Whenever a dark room or closed window
which should be open is found, the danger should be pointed out, and the
member urged to correct it.
The practice of sleeping with the head and face covered is so deeply
rooted in the negro race that it seems almost hopeless to attempt to
eradicate it in the present generation. It is a most pernicious habit.
The dangers of the practice should be pointed out, and the members urged
to abandon it. Children should not be allowed to contract the habit.
The careless spitting of consumptives in their homes is a practice
dangerous to others. The careless at times spit on the floor, the
walls, the hearth of the open fire, or on the stove if one is used. The
sputum of the consumptive dries and is carried into the air as dust.
This is drawn into the lungs when one breathes. The dangers of this
should be emphasized, and the proper way to dispose of sputum shown. The
consumptive should catch all of his sputum and burn it. There are cheap
cups made of paper that can be had at small cost, and these should be
used to spit in, and when they are full they should be burned. The better
cups have covers to them, so that the flies can not get at the sputum.
While consumption is a dangerous disease, the careful consumptive is not
dangerous to live with. The careless consumptive, however, is dangerous
to live with and a menace to those around him.
The minister and the officers of the leagues should consult frequently
with the health officer of their community. Working together they can
accomplish much more than by working alone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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