Abstract
IN a recent article (Bol. Of. San. Panamericana, 21, 128 ; 1942), Dr. Jorge Higgins, director of the Anti-tuberculous Dispensary of Guayaquil, Ecuador, states that of Ecuador's three geographical regions, the coast, which has an average temperature of 81° F., is the most severely affected by tuberculosis. The port of Guayaquil, which has a population of 200,000, has the highest tuberculosis mortality in the world. The anti-tuberculosis campaign began in 1934, when the first dispensary in Guayaquil was established. A similar dispensary was afterwards opened in Quito, and more are being planned for the rest of Ecuador. During 1939, the Guayaquil dispensary provided 2,609 medical consultations, 2,406 fluoroscopic examinations, 683 pleural insufflations and 1,431 laboratory examinations ; 1,169 patients were admitted and 1,831 home visits were made. A large sanatorium has been started in Guayaquil supported by a new organization called the Liga Anti-tuberculosa Ecuadoria. Poverty, which is one of the most important factors in the causation of tuberculosis, is being partially offset by the introduction in several cities of popular restaurants where good food is supplied at popular prices. Milk stations are also furnishing milk free to the infants of poor families. Several hundred dwellings have been destroyed and their place taken by many hygienic houses for workers.
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Tuberculosis in Ecuador. Nature 149, 498 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149498a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149498a0