Public Health and USPHS by The National Library of Medicine

The use of trained auxiliaries to bring basic health care to rural populations is being tested in many countries. With few qualified doctors and nurses available, and a need to focus on preventive care in addition to curative medicine-which is expensive and often inaccessible-paramedical personnel can meet many of the needs of isolated populations. This film profiles efforts in six countries: Bangladesh, India, Canada, Venezuela, Iran, and Panama.

Proper handwashing procedure for hospital staff is demonstrated by a uniformed nurse. After the hands and forearms have been washed and rinsed, the fingernails are cleaned with a toothpick, and a lotion is rubbed on the hands to prevent irritation. Handwashing in hospitals is an important step in limiting the spread of pathogens, especially staphylococcus.

This film's full title is "Smoking and Lung Cancer, an authentic case filmed at the Royal Edward Chest Hospital, Montreal: the diagnostic tests, assessment, preparation for removal of a lung from a patient with a long history of cigarette smoking." It follows a lung cancer patient, who is also a heavy smoker, through x-ray, diagnosis, bronchoscopy, surgical preparation, surgery, and post-operation. It also gives information on the relationship of smoking to lung cancer.

This film emphasizes the necessity of the early diagnosis of syphilis, its clinical manifestations, and modes of treatment by reputable sources. It points out the danger of improper treatment by quacks. This film presents methods for prevention of syphilis, blood-testing to determine if infection has occurred, and treatment for a diagnosed infection. It recommends that a blood test for syphilis take place at every routine medical exam, and that pregnant women be tested so that transmission of the disease to the unborn child can be avoided.

This filmograph is designed to impart general information regarding malaria, its cause, transmission, and prevention. In a series of still images, this film describes the danger posed by malaria and its transmission by mosquitoes. A family is stricken with the disease, and a doctor comes to examine them and provide treatment. A health officer later visits to advise the family on ways to prevent future infections. Additionally, the community must take steps to eliminate the mosquitoes. Produced by the United States Public Health Service.

This film describes the organization and activities of the Communicable Disease Center at Atlanta, Georgia, its relationship with other U.S. Public Health Service activities, and its services to local and state health departments. The film also includes scenes of: patients with encephalitis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ringworm, diarrhea, murine typhus, malaria, influenza, polio, and the equipment and methods of fly control. Produced by United States Public Health Service.

This footage is a National Institutes of Health news clip on rubella produced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9515243 Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films

This silent footage shows not only tuberculosis patients but also healthy children being institutionalized to prevent them from contracting tuberculosis and other diseases. The film opens with aerial shots in 1926 of the South Mountain Restoration Center in South Mountain, Pennsylvania, including the tuberculosis hospital, children's hospital, patient huts, open air pavilions for patient sunbathing, staff golf course, and patient burial ground.

Lucy, whose mother died of tuberculosis and who has been living and working on her aunt’s farm, is found to have advanced tuberculosis. She is fearful of the sanatorium, since her mother died in one. The local Tuberculosis Association swings into action to persuade her that the sanatorium is the best course for her, and Lucy is helped by capable doctors, sympathetic nurses, rest, and nutritious food. While there, she recovers her health, makes a close friend, gets her high school diploma, and plans a career in fashion design. She is eventually cured of the disease and released.

This program is the narrated version of the 1926 film, T.B. Sanitorium and Preventorium. The narrator, Walter L. Zeigler, was a patient at the South Mountain Restoration Center in South Mountain, Pennsylvania, as a child in 1939 through 1940 and later worked there as an adult. He provides insight and stories of therapies, patients, and the nurses who worked there. His narration covers the entire film that shows, not only tuberculosis patients, but shows healthy children being institutionalized to prevent them from contracting tuberculosis or other diseases.