Show Polio Chairman Issues Statement to area EDITOR'S A statement in thc form of a To The has been issued by Arvin Duchesne County Chapter of the National regard- ing financial support extended and available to assist the family of Julie Jacoby of The statement came unsolicited by the who would encourage nil citizens to read his What conclusions arc formed remain an individual Most one should not be hasty in forming until all the facts have been made Reporting news is the primary function of your Free American Utah October 1959 The Editor Uintah Basin Standard Utah Dear Having had many false rumors which are being circulated called to my attention and many inquiries come to me from various groups and individuals seeking information regarding the National Foundation's position regarding Julie I submit the following in order that the citizens of Duchesne See POLIO Page 8 O POLIO LETTER from page County will know all of the facts as concern the County Polio I would like to emphasize that at no time was B. A. Jacoby refused aid nor was he ever told that no help would be given at the time it was learned that Julie would be sent to The Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Los Jacoby contacted the Duchesne County Polio Chapter and inquired as to whether funds might be available to help meet the expenses which would be He was of the opinion that he would be required to have the money to pay them at the time of entrance into the An emergency meeting of the Chapter was and they voted unanimously to make all funds available for Julie that could be spared and a check in the amount of was given to Jacoby at that time He was also informed that this was all that we had available but that we would make every effort to secure funds both locally and from the National Office to aid him With the tremendous expanded program which the National Foundation has underway and with the sharp increase in polio during emergency funds immediately available to county chapters were exhausted and it was impossible at that time to guarantee the amount of funds which be available for Upon arrival at Rancho Los Amigos Jacoby was informed that they could not accept payment from him but that in order for Julie to be admitted as one of their patients it would be necessary to have a financial sponsoring institution sign a contract with them guaranteeing The hospital called the Duchesne County Chapter and asked if we would sign the I gave them oral confirmation that we would be responsible and later signed the contract to that In connection with Jacoby informed us that he would make the necessary funds available to the chapter for this purpose as fas as Rancho Los Amigos Hospital Is operated by Los Angeles County and not by the National Foundation as some have After pursuing the matter further and through the efforts of the State Representative of the National we have been informed that through funds to be raised by the Duchesne County Chapter in the March of Dimes and with aid from the National we will be able to guarantee the future expenses at the Rancho Amigos Hospital for I am sure that the citizens of Duchesne County will appreciate knowing what has been done and what will be The County Chapter stands ready to offer all assistance within our means and as we have in the At the present time we are helping to rehabilitate another young girl in the county with the crippling effects of polio in an attempt to make it possible for her to enjoy a normal We cannot as a county nor as individuals afford to withdraw support from the program of the National We are indebted to for the highly effective program they have given us against illness and We ask for your continued cooperation and generosity in our coming March of Dimes campaign that we might continue in this very worthwhile Let me take this opportunity to remind you that the people of America have the means at hand for wiping out this terrible Many millions have availed themselves of but still at the end of about Americans of all ages were still entirely unprotected by the of them under 20 years of A recent survey in Duchesne County to determine the number of unvaccinated is cause for great concern and indicates that a large number of families in this county are still susceptible to the crippling effects of For the first time since the advent of the there was a sharp increase in the number of cases of paralytic polio an increase of 48 percent over The but indisputable fact is that in a very large proportion of the victims could have been spared death and crippling had they or their parents acted in time to get the full protection of the Salk In the Detroit epidemic 95 percent of the 1958 paralytic cases were among unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated The success or failure of our effort to eliminate crippling by polio depends directly on the American HAVE YOU BEEN VACCINATED ARVIN L. BELLON Duchesne County Chapter of The 1 National Foundation j |