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Show Editorials .... ALWAYS PREPARED A GOOD MOTTO Being prepared to face any eventuality is a wise course to follow. Many of vis were brought up on adages that stressed the value of always being be-ing ready and what could happen hap-pen if we were not. Sometimes we may question the value of making advance preparations' for an event that may not occur. ' But when we are dealing with the lives and health of our 1 children, nobody can challenge J cur duty to be fully prepared. ' Right now tens of thousands oi health officials, physicians, Fchcol authorities and lay volunteers vol-unteers all over the country are planivng and preparing for a pclio vaccination program that MAY start in April. The word "may" i the crux of the situation. situa-tion. We still do not know if the Salk polio vaccine, given to 440,000 children last spring, prevents paralytic polio under conditions of natural exposure, j We will not know the answer I until the scientific evaluation j report is issued sometime in April. 1 But we cannot wait until that late date before making full preparations for the possible vaccination of first and second grade school children throughout through-out the nation. If the vaccine is licensed by the Federal Government, Gov-ernment, it should be given before be-fore the next polio season starts to protect as many children as pebble. Health officers feel this responsibility so keenly that they are making plans in advance, arranging for supplies now, while we are . still in the waiting period for knowledge of results of last year's trial of the vaccine." The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis has taken a calculated financial risk by contracting con-tracting to purchase a supply of vaccine to keep production going go-ing during the waiting period and thu insure that vaccine would be on hand immediately after licensing. Vaccine purchased pur-chased by the National Foundation Founda-tion would be offered to children chil-dren in first and second grades of all schools and to those in the trial groups in 217 areas last spring who did not receive vaccine at that time. They have been selected because of high polio incidence in their age group and their accessibility through schools. Additional amount? of vaccine also will be available to physicians through usual channels. Unfortunately, word of cur-1 rent planning may give the impression im-pression that those in charge actually KNOW the vaccine is I effective. This is not the case. No one knows the answer yet, not even workers at the Polio Evaluation Center in Ann Ar-, bor, Mich. But "Always Prepared" Pre-pared" is a good motto tor crucial cru-cial situations. The advance planning being done now is an example of that motto wisely being put into practice. |