Trends in Public Health Activities among Negroes in 96 Southern Counties During the Period 1930-1939. II. Comparison of Certain Health Services Available for Negroes and White Persons

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Abstract
96 southern counties with full-time health units were investigated by the questionnaire method. The analysis reveals that, during the decade 1930-1939, progress has taken place along several avenues, but this has been slow and meager in quantity when compared to the number and magnitude of the health problems facing Negroes in the rural South. Some advance has been made in the provision of clinic services for Negroes and white persons in these areas, but still too many communities are without adequate clinic facilities. Although tuberculosis is the foremost plague of the Negro, yet in the 96 counties studied he has available less clinic service and fewer beds per death. In the venereal disease field the Negro fares better since he has twice as many clinic hours allocated to him per week as do his white brethren. This study showed alarming neglect in the health supervision of Negro school children. In 1939, 11 of 58 counties reported no examination of Negro school children, while only 1 reported this deficiency for white school children. On the basis of the analysis and opinions expressed by county health officers one may state that, in addition to the needs of clinic services for venereal diseases, tuberculosis, and the prenatal and postnatal stages, there is also a dire urgency for the development of a comprehensive approach to the manifold health problems of the Negro.

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