It's not often we can celebrate a milestone of this magnitude.
We, the people, through one of our more perfect unified efforts, have
obliterated a killer of unborn and infants, have decimated a cause of
blindness and deafness and other birth defects.
Rubella has been statistically eliminated from the United States.
It was conquered through decades-long efforts at federal, state and
local level; these efforts covered every child in public schools across the
country.
The next time you hear someone complaining about the threats of socialized medicine or
the taxes they pay, you can remind them they are investing in a healthy
country and in a healthy future. They are supporting real
"culture of life" values when they invest tax dollars in public health,
for starters.
I remember a course my mother had taught on healthcare, wherein her
nursing students did historical research on patients in state
institutions. Many of the patients in state care over decades past
were those who were profoundly affected by outbreaks of communicable
diseases. A particular number of patients arrived in the system
inside a handful of years, all close to the same age, all suffering from profound retardation;
what was the cause? Could it have been an outbreak of a disease like rubella?
Other parents -- indeed, entire communities -- have paid dearly for a
lack of public will or capability to deal with infectious agents.
As an example, walk through the graveyards of New Orleans and count the
deaths
resulting from various waves of yellow fever. Because more
contemporary graveyards didn't and don't make note of the cause of
death on tombstones, one won't grasp the magnitude any one season's
illness had and has on a population. It is so very obvious among
New Orleans' graves.
I
know I pay a small price for the health of the two beautiful, healthy
kids I have; I know I am willing to pay that all over again for the
same results. I'm all too aware of the potential toll that
communicable
diseases have taken on our country and continue to take on other
countries. Let's not stop now that we know this disease can be
stopped; let's eliminate it as a future threat here on this continent and around the globe.
10:04:41 PM 
