Progress in tuberculosis control in the United States.

A t last year's Annual Meeting, it was my pleasure to discuss in general terms the tuberculosis control program of the United States Public Health Service. I described the fundamental objectives and major techniques of the Tuberculosis Control Division, organized as an official agency to integrate and guide actirrities in tuberculosis control throughout the country. I spoke of the success of the Division in cooperative work with voluntary and official State and local agencies engaged in the national control movement, and mentioned cooperative arrangements with prominent research groups. That introduction to the activities of the .-Division was in itself a promise to speak later of further developments. Today, with the Division in its fourth year of operation, it is possible to discuss, in some detail, significant projects and results. The most interesting work, I should say, has been in the fields of case-finding and medical research. It would seem appropriate to discuss case-finding first, inasmuch as it provides a measure of the general problem of tuberculosis. For those who mag not be familiar with the Federal case-finding program, I should explain that the Public Health Service operates a number of photofluorographic units for demonstration purposes. A t present the Tuberculosis Control Division maintains more than 40 of these units and keeps at least 35 in operation a t all times. While demonstrating the value or miniature chest films in detecting early tuberculosis, the units provide direct service to the community, and every effort is made to place them. where most needed throughout the States. The Division frequently conducts chest x-ray surveys among special population groups, such as industrial workers or patients in menfal hospitals. These investigations afford valuable information about the tuberculosis problem. For the most part, however , we emphasize the community-wide survey, since it covers the general population as well as special groups, and in this way offers the most to the people in terms of service. In demonstra