Those protecting our health deserve praise
Recently I was doing some family research in the Urbana Citizen newspaper from the 1930s. A headline caught my eye: “Whoopers.” It was a notice from the city health commission alerting citizens to a whooping cough outbreak. The notice asked local residents to keep their children indoors and to report any cases of whooping cough to the commission. It further stated that if these measures were not effective, stricter measures would be put in place.
The notice reminded me of the epidemics Ohioans have survived in the past: malaria, cholera, influenza, measles, polio, HIV, AIDS and whooping cough.
Without question, one of the main purposes of government is to protect the health and welfare of its citizens. Years ago, the members of the Ohio General Assembly wisely delegated this responsibility. They established the public health system. The doctors, nurses and other health care professionals of that system have used advances in medicine and triedand-true protocols to successfully eradicate disease and increase sanitary conditions for everyone. They are the experts. They know what to do.
I share this experience to remind my friends who may have forgotten just how much we owe to the public health system in this state. Public health workers have done their job well and deserve to be supported as much as possible for their tremendous contributions past, present and future.
Laura J. Moorman, Westerville