{"id":3747,"date":"1967-02-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1967-02-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T01:16:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T01:16:52","slug":"february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","title":{"rendered":"February 1967 &#8211; VOL. 48, No. 2 &#8211; Progress Report on Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">Health in Canada                     ranks among the best in the world.<\/p>\n<p> Unprecedented reductions in mortality occurred during the                     first half of this century, reflecting epoch-making advances                     in medicine, public health, and the general standard of living.<\/p>\n<p>Medicine&#8217;s greatest triumphs to date have been over the                     contagious diseases. Rules of sanitation have been evolved,                     and serums and vaccines have been developed. The progress                     in preventing premature death has resulted in a significant                     rise in the proportion of the population surviving to the                     older ages.<\/p>\n<p>In general, the diseases of environmental origin are playing                     a diminishing role, having given way to the degenerative diseases.                     Pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhoea and enteritis,                     which were among the first five causes of death fifty years                     ago, have dropped below that rank. For all practical purposes,                     typhoid fever has been eliminated as a cause of death, although                     fifty years ago it was well up on the list.<\/p>\n<h3>Some choose to be ill<\/h3>\n<p>We do not all take advantage of the medical science that                     would give us a continuing feeling of wellness.<\/p>\n<p>Some people choose to be ill, because illness is a kind                     of adaptation to the difficulties of living. Thomas Mann&#8217;s                     epic story <em>The Magic Mountain <\/em>shows how fearful persons                     sometimes take refuge in tuberculosis rather than face the                     battle of life: they find it much easier to be sick than courageous.                     Others develop a sickness complex because it gives them power                     over their families and keeps them the centre of interest.<\/p>\n<p>But those who wish to enjoy good health have an increasing                     number of things to assist them. The pioneers in Canada, living                     in scattered settlements and on isolated farms, had nothing                     of a permanent nature in the way of sanitary measures, and                     there was no effort made toward prevention of the outbreak                     of infectious diseases. Physicians were scarce and widely                     scattered.<\/p>\n<p>It was not until the turn of this century that people ceased                     to look upon illness as a malignant demon to be driven out                     by heroic measures.<\/p>\n<p>From the pioneer extremes of hard labour, malnutrition,                     and lack of medical care, the pendulum in the affluent western                     world has swung to physical inactivity, over-nourishment and                     a plethora of drugs. In this country there is little starvation                     from want of calorie value, (the daily calorie intake in North                     America is 3120, compared with 2070 in the Far East), but                     there is much ill health due to overeating and eating the                     wrong foods.<\/p>\n<h3>Public health<\/h3>\n<p>At the time of confederation little was known of the subject                     of public health &#8211; in fact, the term had not yet been                     coined. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the British                     North America Act of 1867 contains no reference to the subject.<\/p>\n<p>It took the public health act of 1875 in Great Britain to                     awaken Canadian authorities to the urgency of action. Seven                     years later Ontario established a provincial board of health,                     the most important piece of health legislation that had up                     to that time been passed in Canada. In 1890, wrote Dr. John                     W. S. McCullough, &#8220;the first public health laboratory established                     on the North American continent was set up in Toronto.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It has been said that &#8220;if not the mother, filth is at least                     the nurse of disease,&#8221; and the struggle of health authorities                     on all levels to provide clean air and water and sanitation                     still goes on.<\/p>\n<p>The eradication of the communicable diseases which are spread                     by water is today not a matter of gaining knowledge but of                     applying economics and administration. The economic problem                     may be huge. Consider a large city which has developed a one-sewer                     system carrying both drainage water and domestic waste. A                     sewage disposal plant to handle that volume of water and waste                     would be astronomically expensive. The cost and disruption                     that would attend the relaying of the city&#8217;s system with two                     new systems stagger the imagination.<\/p>\n<p>Canada was too sparsely populated to be affected as London                     was in 1858, when blinds saturated with chloride of lime had                     to be hung in windows along the Thames to make breathing tolerable.                     However, the big Canadian cities of today are approaching                     the same need for dynamic action to prevent the pollution                     of water by civic and industrial poisons, to provide adequate                     sewage disposal, and to dispose of garbage in some other way                     than by letting it rot in a suburban field.<\/p>\n<h3>Children&#8217;s diseases<\/h3>\n<p>The bounding advance of medicine has blunted the threat                     to individual survival caused by some organism from outside                     the body &#8211; a bacterium, a virus, or some other parasite.                     The improvement of years in the life expectancy of a new-born                     baby represents man&#8217;s conquest of the infectious diseases.<\/p>\n<p>Diphtheria illustrates an epidemic disease that has been                     almost wiped out by immunization. In 1924 there were 9,093                     cases in Canada, with 1,281 deaths; in 1964 there were 25                     cases and only 5 deaths. This is not to say that everyone                     may relax. Herein is a paradox: diphtheria is so scarce that                     there is little chance for natural exposure to serve as a                     harmless but effective booster after the usual shots in infancy.                     The level of diphtheria immunity thus gradually declines in                     adolescence and adulthood, and a new group of susceptible                     people is formed. In 1964, 23 per cent of diphtheria cases                     in the United States occurred in people beyond the school                     years.<\/p>\n<p>Whooping cough is a particular menace to young infants.                     Maternal immunity is not passed along to babies, so early                     immunization is essential. There has been a general downward                     trend since the 1920&#8217;s. Between 1929 and 1945, a rate of cases                     below 100 per 100,000 population occurred in only one year,                     and rates as high as 170 and 180 were not uncommon. Since                     1945, rates have not exceeded 90; since 1957, they have not                     exceeded 45, and in 1964 the rate was at an all-time low,                     25.2.<\/p>\n<p>Although true scarlet fever, once a common bacterial disease                     of childhood, is not frequently encountered nowadays, the                     diseases grouped together as &#8220;scarlet fever and streptococcal                     sore throat&#8221; continue to show a relatively high rate among                     notifiable diseases. In 1962 the rate of infection was 55.1                     cases per 100,000 population, compared with the 1959 rate                     of 134.2. The sulfa drugs and penicillin, which are particularly                     useful in combating streptococcal infection, are expected                     to give the final knock-out blow to scarlet fever.<\/p>\n<p>Smallpox may be down, but it is not yet out. The World Health                     Organization approved in 1966 a ten-year programme to eradicate                     smallpox throughout the world. The plan involves 1,790 million                     vaccinations, including the entire populations of 41 countries.<\/p>\n<p>Smallpox is one disease that should have no foothold in                     a country with our high standard of public health, and vaccinations                     should be rigidly insisted upon. No matter how strict the                     quarantine at ports of entry, some day smallpox will get through,                     and the only way to prevent its spread is by prior vaccination.                     To realize the necessity, we need only remind ourselves that                     in one year toward the end of the last century Montreal had                     3,193 deaths from smallpox.<\/p>\n<p>Measles is usually a mild disease, but it can be serious,                     particularly in infants under two years of age. Though the                     total rate of serious complications is quite small, even this                     low rate yields a substantial burden of suffering and disability.                     In every million cases, there are about 100 deaths, all preventable                     by vaccination. In addition, some children suffer deafness,                     and investigators are studying the possibility that some cases                     of mental retardation are associated with a history of severe                     measles.<\/p>\n<p>During recent years effective means of controlling poliomyelitis                     have been found: the Salk vaccine, introduced in 1955, and                     the Sabin vaccine in 1962. In 1953, the year of highest incidence,                     there were 3,912 reported paralytic cases and 494 deaths;                     in 1964, only 19 cases in all, or one case per million population.                     But there are still millions of unvaccinated and unprotected                     children.<\/p>\n<h3>Immunization<\/h3>\n<p>What is this immunization all about? It means to render                     immune, and &#8220;immune&#8221; means &#8220;not liable to infection&#8221;. By being                     immunized you opt out of contracting the disease.<\/p>\n<p>When Louis Pasteur reported that germs might transmit diseases,                     he was ridiculed, but he showed us not only how to discover                     our microbic foes and shut them out from the human body but                     he also found the way to arm the living cells with new power                     to destroy the parasites even after they had gained entrance.<\/p>\n<p>The record is plain for all to read: diphtheria, tetanus,                     whooping cough and typhoid conquered; polio reduced, tuberculosis                     and other diseases partly controlled. An instructor in the                     Department of Pediatrics in the University of Toronto said                     this: &#8220;With the exception of chicken pox, whooping cough,                     occasionally measles, mumps, and rarely meningitis, it is                     extremely difficult to present the student with actual cases                     of communicable diseases, and we are forced to a great extent                     to use wax models and pictures.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To immunize is much more sensible than to take a chance                     on a killing or maiming disease which even the latest and                     best medical treatment may be unable to overcome. But three                     fallacies are widely prevalent: that immunizations are only                     for children; that immunizations aren&#8217;t really necessary until                     children reach school age; and that people who were immunized                     in childhood, in university, or before a trip abroad, remain                     protected indefinitely. When such ideas lull even a few people                     into inactivity, the door is opened for personal tragedy.<\/p>\n<p>In the forefront of the battle to save lives by preventing                     disease is the Health League of Canada. Its vice-president                     and general director, Dr. Gordon Bates, has pressed the struggle                     for immunization of children, for pasteurization of milk,                     for fluoridation of water, and for a dozen other innovations                     whose success is registered in the statistics of declining                     death rates and improving health rates.<\/p>\n<h3>Today&#8217;s major diseases<\/h3>\n<p>Thousands of scientists all over the world are seeking to                     solve the mystery of cancer, that family of malignant growths                     which attack organs or tissues of the body.<\/p>\n<p>Encouraging gains made in the control of cancer tend to                     be overlooked because of the heavy death toll still taken                     by the disease. Much has been accomplished in lengthening                     the life of patients. It was estimated in 1960 by the American                     Cancer Society that if all the patients received early and                     adequate treatment, one half would survive at least five years                     after diagnosis of the disease.<\/p>\n<p>Knowledge of cancer is daily becoming more extensive, and                     it may be said with truth that never was knowledge pursued                     more ardently by those engaged in medical research.<\/p>\n<p>Health departments and professional and lay groups working                     for the control of cancer have been concerned mainly with                     four aspects of the problem: diagnosis, treatment, research                     and education. Some provinces have programmes of their own,                     others support agencies or commissions which sponsor diagnosis                     and treatment in special clinics.<\/p>\n<p>Heart disease, with its heavy toll of disability and death,                     is in the forefront of public health problems. About a million                     people on this continent suffer heart attacks every year.                     If they follow the guidelines laid down for them by their                     physicians, most of them can recover to enjoy healthy, normal                     lives, lived with moderation.<\/p>\n<p>Many who suffer with diabetes, pernicious anaemia, and a                     variety of other diseases, are kept alive and active who would                     have been lost inexorably a few years ago. Diabetes was one                     of the diseases most dreaded by physicians. Little had been                     accomplished in two thousand years to overcome this affliction                     until Sir Frederick Banting, in 1921, discovered insulin.<\/p>\n<p>Considerable success had been attained twenty years ago                     in the control of pneumonia through use of the sulfa drugs                     and penicillin. Since then even more effective antibiotics                     have been developed. Further gains are to be expected, but                     ultimate victory awaits the development of reliable vaccines                     which can be widely used.<\/p>\n<p>A few decades ago it was tuberculosis that struck people                     down in their youth or early life, and there were many hopeless                     journeys to distant sanatoria. But tuberculosis has proved                     to be a manageable disease, and advanced societies are quickly                     getting rid of it, particularly as a cause of death. Between                     1914 and 1917, bovine tuberculosis was eliminated in Toronto                     by the use of pasteurization of milk.<\/p>\n<p>However, several thousand cases of active tuberculosis are                     still found in Canada every year. The death rate has been                     reduced from 43.4 per 100,000 population twenty years ago                     to 3.1 in 1964. This high survival rate is one of the two                     great improvements made by the use of drugs: the other is                     the reduction in the time spent in sanatoria. Patients who                     could have looked forward to spending two or three years in                     hospital are now being discharged in six to eight months.<\/p>\n<p>At the beginning of this century, typhoid fever was one                     of the most prevalent of diseases. Twelve per cent of the                     people who were infected died. In 1964 there were only four                     deaths in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Accidents have displaced infectious diseases in recent years                     as one of the major killers. Of 12,389 deaths reported in                     1964, 4,463 were of youths below 25 years of age, and 7,926                     were of people over 25.<\/p>\n<p>There are three main causes of accidents: unsafe acts, such                     as a boy riding his bicycle without hands on the handle-bars,                     or someone driving a car carelessly; unsafe practices, such                     as reaching out from the bathtub to pull a light chain; and                     unrealized hazards, typified by careless use of dangerous                     solvents and products containing injurious chemicals. The                     protective device here is to acquaint ourselves with where                     and under what circumstances accidents are looking for a place                     to happen, and then avoid those places and circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Good health relates to the whole spectrum of life &#8211;                     body, mind and spirit. However backward our provision for                     the mentally ill may appear from the point of view of an ideal                     society, it clearly represents an advance.<\/p>\n<p>Not so many years ago the authorities in Canada, as elsewhere,                     concerned themselves only with segregation of the mentally                     ailing and the protection of society. In 1918 the Canadian                     National Committee for Mental Hygiene was organized to ensure                     the best possible care, treatment and rehabilitation of the                     mentally ill, and to promote practical programmes designed                     to prevent mental illness. This became the Canadian Mental                     Health Association, whose educational efforts have succeeded                     in changing the public attitude to some extent. A noticeable                     turn for the better has occurred during the past ten years,                     and the spectre and the old image of mental illness may be                     banished.<\/p>\n<h3>Longer life<\/h3>\n<p>Long life has been a human dream through all ages.<\/p>\n<p>The cold facts are that even in 1840 the average human in                     the world lived less than 33 years; 25 per cent died before                     the age of six; fifty per cent died before the age of 16;                     one man in a hundred lived to be 65. What has increased in                     developed countries in the past century, through hygiene,                     improved medical knowledge and better living conditions, is                     not the potential universal longevity of human beings promised                     by the Fountain of Youth but the chances of survival.<\/p>\n<p>The average length of life in Canada has been steadily increasing.                     Under mortality conditions prevailing around the time of confederation,                     the expectation of life at birth was less than 40 years; in                     1965 the United Nations Demographic Yearbook gave Canadian                     boy babies an expectancy of 68.4 years and girls 74.2 years.<\/p>\n<p>Canada had one of the lowest death rates in the world in                     1965, ranking behind Iceland, Japan, Soviet Russia and Poland.                     Our death rate of 7.5 compares with 21 per thousand in the                     1860&#8217;s, and 13 in the first year of this century.<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to conserve the lives of children have been richly                     rewarded in the past fifty years. At the beginning of the                     century infant mortality was frightful, so usual, in fact,                     that when a child was born its parents only hoped that it                     might live: they did not assume that it would. In 1926 the                     death rate was 102 per 1,000 live births; by 1945 it had been                     cut to 51; in 1965 it was 25.3. There are some 15 countries                     with better records than Canada&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>Child-bearing is safer now than ever before, due in part                     to the fact that 98 per cent of deliveries are made in hospitals                     under competent care. Other factors are adequate prenatal                     care, improved obstetrical techniques, and advances in the                     control of infection through chemotherapy and the antibiotics.                     Nevertheless, <em>Canada Year Book <\/em>of 1965 pointed out:                     &#8220;Despite this improvement, Canada&#8217;s maternal death rate (4.1                     in 1962) is higher than the rates for several other countries,                     such as Sweden (3.7), England and Wales (3.4) and the United                     States (3.2)&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h3>Where credit is due<\/h3>\n<p>Having paid tribute to the scientists who labour so untiringly                     on the problems of keeping us alive, it is proper to mention                     those on the front line of the health army: the physicians                     and surgeons.<\/p>\n<p>The family doctor retains his importance in maintaining                     our health. While the public health people look at health                     from a statistical viewpoint, and at the people in masses,                     the doctor looks at individuals. He doesn&#8217;t ask &#8220;What can                     I do about x per cent of so and so disease?&#8221; but &#8220;What can                     I do for John Doe, my patient?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Most people in Canada have progressed in their thinking                     to the point where they recognize that pain has a very good                     reason to exist. Unless it comes from an exterior cause, like                     violence or an accident, it is a red light announcing that                     something is wrong. It is wise not to try to treat this symptom,                     but to let the physician determine the cause and remove it.<\/p>\n<p>The fear that we are harbouring a fatal disease is very                     common, and some people delay going to the doctor because                     they feel unable to face the fact. This in itself is a self-destructive                     act. If there is a disease, the delay has wasted time during                     which it might have been arrested; if there is no disease,                     the continued fear is needless torture.<\/p>\n<p>The record for surgery today epitomizes the accomplishments                     of a highly skilled team of medical and allied personnel.                     They work with efficient equipment, new drugs, and with a                     smoothly functioning hospital organization. The scope of surgery                     has broadened, especially in the past fifty years, and at                     the same time the risk of operation has lessened markedly.<\/p>\n<p>The use of drugs for deadening pain goes back to remote                     times, but no method of rendering a patient unconscious for                     a pre-determined period without doing him more or less serious                     harm was known until the 19th century. Anaesthesia was established                     for surgical operations as a part of practice only 21 years                     before Confederation. Two years after Confederation Lord Lister                     perfected his methods of antiseptic surgery. Up until that                     time certain types of operations were followed so often by                     infections which brought death that surgeons feared to try                     them.<\/p>\n<p>X-ray contributed its big part. For more than half a century                     internal human structures have cast their shadows against                     X-ray films where trained eyes can see them, interpret the                     different shades, and take action which can preserve health                     and life. We have not only more hospitals and more hospital                     beds but the hospitals have improved their systems and techniques                     so that patients can be treated and returned to their homes                     in shorter periods. The nursing profession, with the development                     of schools of nursing in the universities, is recognized as                     a vital section of the medical team.<\/p>\n<h3>What of our second century&nbsp;?<\/h3>\n<p>Everyone is a personality with capacities of pleasure and                     of pain; a person who can be hurt or who can be at ease: but                     whether he be well or ill is not a matter altogether of chance.<\/p>\n<p>These are days when the great majority of people can enjoy                     good health if they will co-operate with nature. The expression                     &#8220;as well as can be expected&#8221; has taken on new meaning. If                     they exercise a reasonable degree of care and intelligence                     in the treatment of their bodies they can expect to be very                     well indeed. If by misfortune they fall ill, they have resources                     for treatment and cure never before available in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Education is the keynote of the modern campaign for health.                     The battle against disease will not be won by huge expenditures                     on public works but by the interest and conduct of the individual.                     Mothers must have a clear knowledge of the ways in which disease                     spreads, and the ways in which it can be prevented, if they                     are to give their babies a good start in life. Everyone needs                     to make use throughout his life of the knowledge of the medical                     sciences, of immunization, of the advice of his physician.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, so available are the aids to complete wellness                     that in this age of law-making we might take a look at the                     law passed in Samuel Butler&#8217;s ideal commonwealth which he                     called <em>Erewhon<\/em>: &#8220;If a man falls into ill health,                     or catches any disorder, or fails bodily in any way before                     he is seventy years old, he is tried before a jury&nbsp;&#8230;                     and if convicted is held up to public scorn and sentenced                     more or less severely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[47],"class_list":["post-3747","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-47"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>February 1967 - VOL. 48, No. 2 - Progress Report on Health - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"February 1967 - VOL. 48, No. 2 - Progress Report on Health - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Health in Canada ranks among the best in the world. Unprecedented reductions in mortality occurred during the first half of this century, reflecting epoch-making advances in medicine, public health, and the general standard of living. Medicine&#8217;s greatest triumphs to date have been over the contagious diseases. Rules of sanitation have been evolved, and serums and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-28T01:16:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"February 1967 - VOL. 48, No. 2 - Progress Report on Health - RBC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1967-02-01T01:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-28T01:16:52+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"February 1967 - VOL. 48, No. 2 - Progress Report on Health - RBC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"February 1967 - VOL. 48, No. 2 - Progress Report on Health - RBC","og_description":"Health in Canada ranks among the best in the world. Unprecedented reductions in mortality occurred during the first half of this century, reflecting epoch-making advances in medicine, public health, and the general standard of living. Medicine&#8217;s greatest triumphs to date have been over the contagious diseases. Rules of sanitation have been evolved, and serums and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","og_site_name":"RBC","article_modified_time":"2022-11-28T01:16:52+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"16 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","name":"February 1967 - VOL. 48, No. 2 - Progress Report on Health - RBC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"1967-02-01T01:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-28T01:16:52+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/","name":"RBC","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"February 1967 &#8211; VOL. 48, No. 2 &#8211; Progress Report on Health","url":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"amandeepsingh"}],"creator":["amandeepsingh"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"RBC","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"1967-02-01T01:00:00Z","datePublished":"1967-02-01T01:00:00Z","dateModified":"2022-11-28T01:16:52Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"February 1967 &#8211; VOL. 48, No. 2 &#8211; Progress Report on Health\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/february-1967-vol-48-no-2-progress-report-on-health\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"amandeepsingh\"}],\"creator\":[\"amandeepsingh\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"1967-02-01T01:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"1967-02-01T01:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-28T01:16:52Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rbc.com\/p.js"},"featured_img":false,"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/author\/amandeepsingh\/","display_name":"amandeepsingh"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 59 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 1, 1967","modified":"Updated on November 28, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 1, 1967 1:00 am","modified":"Updated on November 28, 2022 1:16 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"category":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/category\/uncategorized\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Uncategorized<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Uncategorized<\/span>"],"slug":"category","name":"Categories"},"rbc_letter_theme":{"linked":[],"unlinked":[],"slug":"rbc_letter_theme","name":"Themes"},"rbc_letter_year":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/year\/1967\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">1967<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">1967<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_letter_year","name":"Years"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter\/3747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rbc_letter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter\/3747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3747"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_letter_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter_theme?post=3747"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_letter_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter_year?post=3747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}