Problems to Be Solved if the Eradication of Tuberculosis Is to Be Realized

Abstract

The rapid reductions in mortality and morbidity from tuberculosis during the past 15 years will not necessarily lead to eradication of this disease, however, much they may suggest that the tools needed for eradication are available. To achieve the eradication of tuberculosis will require a radical psychological and administrative change in the attitude of public health workers towards the existence of a low incidence of infection. The watchword in eradication must be "any is to many." If eradication is to be realized, tuberculosis should no longer be treated as a social, economic and medical problem; it must be reclassified as a dangerous, infectious, communicable, preventible disease, and treated as a serious public health problem by the community, the physician, the infected individual and the health officer. The eradication effort must eventually be nation-wide; early provision should be made for a national coordination authority to stimulate eradication programs in the 3,152 counties of the United States, and coordinate the United States effort with tuberculosis prevention activities in Canada and Mexico.