May 1.
It is not possible to read the an~ nual report of the Lester Chinese Hospital, and the account of yester~ day's annual meeting which appears in another column, without being profoundly moved by the stories of the conditions which the staff have to deal with, and the results which are being obtained, Nor is it pos~ sible to escape the conclusion that much has to be done in' the way of health propaganda before a general standard of hygiene is reached which will make the tasks of the doctors easier than they ap~ pear to be at present, Hospitals. should be the last line in the war~ fare against disease, especially in such cases where personal clean~ mess is the best defence against sickness. Thus in the case of cholera, which has been steadily reduced during past years, it is now apparent that the persistent propaganda against the disease-bearing fy is having the effect {t was hoped it would have, and proves con= clusively that this method of com batting certain diseases is still the best. With the increase in the cases of relapsing fever and the incidence of typhus a case is clearly made out for the use of propaganda in order to fight the carrier of these troubles—the louse—as is being done in the case of the fly. Indeed the question is raised as to whether the public health a thorities in 'Shangh ign Chinese, should not seek wa means for extending their praiseworthy activities, for one remark in the report to the effect that with regard to se¢ couple of dozen intelligent trained coolies could do more for' the public than a couple of hun. dred doctors, suggests that the outposts in the general fight against disease need to be considerably strengthened to take much work off the hospitals. It is also suggested that the various public health departments cannot deal with all urgent needs because of the lack of money and' facilities. That is not really a ground for criticism, plain that to bring to the lower class Chinese a full realization of the necessity for a higher hygienic standard must of. necessity be a slow process, Perhaps it could be accelerated by the expenditure of larger sums of public money, but a reasonable relation has to be maintained in the spending of money to meet the various needs of the public in general, it is not likely that much can be done in that direction except at the expense of other and equally necessary activities.
While to the medical man the story of a hospital's work seems to be the plain tale of a great deal of hard' work, to the layman there must always seem to be.a magic quality about it, induced by the Infrequent realization of the enormous amount of suffering which is either cured entirely or at any rate alleviated. For this reason the accounts of the activity of the Lester Chinese Hospital have always peculiar fascination about them, and not only because of that, but also because of the amount of self-sacrifice which is evidenced in the fight which the doctors and the staff put up for: the salvation of those who come to them in their trouble. The fact that one doctor is. stricken down by one of the diseases against which "the hospital is fighting is indicative of the risks that are run in the struggle for humanity, and It is more than pleasing to note that! hho has been returned to health to continue in the good work. Again an average of about three persons 'a day are brought to the hospital] for treatment, "having attempted suicide. When it is remembered hat this figure only represents the activities of one hospital in Shang-hal, some idea of the large number of unfortunates who find the world too dificult for them to live in can be obtained, and when of that total over two a day are brought in suffering from opium poisoning, it becomes hideously "plain that th: rug is still much too easy to obtain, and consequently cheap enough provide an easy method of self-destruction, Fortunately the hospital is successful in saving a large pro-for portion of these cases, though it being burdened. by.a demand which might be reduced if the control of the sale of opium were more effective than at present it seems to be.
One feature in the report which especially noteworthy is the fact that there is an increase in the amount of fees pald by patients of the hospital. In the past it was inevitable, for propaganda purposes, that much of the service of the hospital should have been provided free; patients, ignorant and suspi-lous of foreign medical practice, could in many cases only be al tracted by its cheapness, and the excellent results of which they ultimately heard. 'That—introductory period is now long past, and it is gratifying to note that very large proportion of the patients were called upon to, and did pay' fees in some relation to their incomes and the services which the hospital rendered to them. Nevertheless it is doubtful whether such hospitals' as the Lester Chinese Hospital can ever be entirely self-supporting, so much of its work has to be done amongst classes not too well blessed with this world's goods. 'That is no reason why the hospital authorities should not face. the! future with all the confidence they' have done in the past. Of the place it holds in the affection of the public there Is not the slightest doubt, because the reports which have deen published yearly throughout the long history of the institution have served to emphasize the really excellent work which it is doing. 'On that it is to be heartily congratulated and it is hoped that as} the years go by it will proceed to greater heights than even those which it has already attained. At] the same time, it should not be forgotten that' in both the report and the chairman's speech' the point is emphasized that the! various municipal authorities Shanghai are facing demands for an extension of their activities in the direction of prevention. That the Hospitals cannot be expected to undertake, and while it is possible that the municipalities find themselves unable at the moment, because of slender resources, to do all that can be reasonably expected of them, the time will ultimately come, when they will have to do so. 'In the meantime, as the campaign against the fly' has been' 40 successful, is it too much in view. of the threats of relapsing and] typhus fevers to expect that steps shall be taken te limit the fell activities of the louse?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.