How to Prevent Disease (silent, ca. 1920s)

How to Prevent Disease (ca. 1920s) is an educational film produced under the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service as part of the Science of Life series. It emphasizes key public health measures, including pure drinking water, a clean milk supply, sanitation, and quarantine to prevent disease outbreaks. The film features New York City’s upstate reservoirs, an animated diagram illustrating proper sanitation practices, and a 1922 quarantine sign for scarlet fever. It also highlights immigrant health inspections, the effectiveness of smallpox vaccination and diphtheria antitoxin, and the Schick test for diphtheria. A dramatic graph of the 1918 influenza epidemic in New York City underscores the devastation of unchecked disease. The film concludes optimistically with the statement, “What Science Hopes to Do”, accompanied by animated writing declaring the goal to “Reduce all transmissible disease to – 0.” Silent with intertitles and animations, the film serves as a compelling early public health advocacy piece.

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