This is an average small town, population about 10,000. Pleasant homes, some industry, main street. One of the 10,000 inhabitants is 14 years old and a student at the local junior high. This is roger cartwright, he is 14 years old and goes to the same school. There are lots of things we can tell you about them, where they live, their parents, the subjects they like at school, but one thing we dont have to tell you, it is plain as day, they are healthy, sturdy, physically fit. Nothing very remarkable about that. For most young people, good health is something to be almost taken for granted. Have you ever stopped to think why these young people, like most of us, dont have to worry about their health . Why is that so . Take this glass of water, for instance. What does it have to do with her health . It is quite simple. When water falls from the sky as rain, it may be fit to drink, but as it runs towards the sea, water may become polluted because Industrial Wastes are discharged into it, and also the wastes from cities. When a drop of such polluted water as observed under a microscope, it can be seen that the water contains large concentrations of microorganisms which can cause typhoid fever, dysentery, and cholera. Such microorganisms muchst be removed before we drink the water. In america, even small communities are insured of clean, healthy drinking water, whether it needs purification or it is pure to begin with and has not been contaminated. The Health Department keeps a close watch over the supply to make sure that only water that is safe to drink reaches the people of the community. And just like water, food can carry dangerous diseaseproducing organisms. Therefore, to safeguard all members of the community against the diseases which can be spread by unclean food, your Health Department is concerned with the purity of the many foods consumed by people each day. Rigorous standards of cleanliness are established for all places where food is processed and handled. Everywhere the standards of cleanliness are enforced by frequent inspections. To further safeguard the health of the community, proper disposal of garbage is essential. If garbage is not properly disposed of, disease organisms may be spread to Food Products in homes or restaurants. Improper disposal of sewage may also endanger the health of the community. Rivers and streams may become polluted, swimming holes and beaches may be ruined for recreation because sewage is discharged. Such hazards must be eliminated. Along with these responsibilities. The local Health Department attempts in other ways to prevent or limit the spread of Communicable Diseases. Scientists in the Health Department help identify individual cases other Communicable Diseases by making Laboratory Tests at the request of local physicians. And when it is necessary, the local Health Department will supply vaccines and other immunizing agents to physicians and hospitals. Today, most physicians vaccinate infants and small children against smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and other common diseases for which immunizing agents have been developed. School nurses who are usually Public Health nurses working closely with the local Health Department keep careful watch on the health of students. Health education is another important function of the local Health Department, pamphlets covering achieving and maintaining good health for all age groups are carefully planned and widely distributed. Well, all this and much more is part of the picture of why today, we have good reasons to take good health almost for granted. These two can live in their Community Without too much danger from Communicable Diseases, thanks largely to the work done by the local department of health. But there are other agencies, the red cross, for example, that supplement the work of the community Health Department. They are voluntary organization supported by contributions and staffed by volunteers. Ann, as a volunteer in her local chapter of the red cross, is helping to prepare emergency kits for a nearby disaster area, one of the many jobs the red cross undertakes to supplement existing health agencies, particularly in times of emergency. Then there are the many other voluntary Agencies Concerned the problems of specific diseases. Some organizations are concerned with research, others with rehabilitation and the burden of caring for the victims of the respective disease. In many communities, their are Nurse Services to provide how nursing care for yes the family doctor. Nothing wrong with roger as far as he knows. This is just a periodic checkup. A routine examination to make sure. Part of the job of a general practitioner is to treat his patients when they get sick, but the Community Held part of his job is to prevent illness which is the chief purpose of periodic checkups. By examining roger carefully, looking for any telltale signs that might indicate a possible onset of illness or condition that needs correcting, the doctor is helping to keep roger well and the Community Healthy. Family doctors like this one and all other doctors, dentists, the specialists in different branches of medicine, the hospitals and clinics, and the many laboratories that work with the doctors, all our part of the network of people and organizations concerned with the health of the community. Yes, roger and anne are Pretty Healthy young people, thanks in part to the Community Health works services. The services could not function so well without the active cooperation of young people and their parents. Of all the other people who live in the community. In practically every community, we have important rules requiring us to observe habits of cleanliness. Good personal habits of cleanliness, besides keeping you healthy also reduce the chances of you infecting others which you may be caring. Also, everyone knows or should know that bed is the best place for a cold because what seems to be nothing but a cold may be the beginning of influenza or some other serious disease. If you do not stay in bed, you endanger not only your own health but also that of the other people in the community. Roger and and understand the Health Problems of their community. They, like the rest of us, must lift by the rules of helpful living for the sake of their own good health and for the health of their friends and neighbors. Community health is a responsibility shared by all, the young and old alike. How much do you know about the Health Services in your community . What can you do to support or improve that . In 1960 next on real america, a right to health. Ive been living in this neighborhood for two years now. Im used to it