Tuberculosis in the Far East

Abstract

THE problem of tuberculosis was one of the subjects dealt with at the Conference of Far Eastern Countries on Rural Hygiene last August (League of Nations. Health Organisation. Report of the Intergovernmental Conference of Far-Eastern Countries on Rural Hygiene. Held at Bandoeng (Java), August, 1937. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 2s. 6d.). Tuberculosis is recognized as being one of the scourges in Eastern countries. Unfortunately, there is an almost complete absence of accurate data concerning the extent and severity of the disease in rural areas. The importance of carrying out preliminary surveys and sample tuberculin tests in the country is advocated. Financial limitations make it important that an anti-tuberculosis campaign should be simple and adapted to local conditions, and the gradual establishment of a network of rural dispensaries would appear advisable. The establishment of sanatoria, in the Western sense, would not seem to be applicable, but simpler institutions are suggested. A scheme for mass research on tuberculin sensitiveness was drafted.