The comparative study of the prevention of goiter in Detroit and in Cleveland demonstrates how quickly any community can completely eradicate endemic goiter when there is a unity of all the forces that direct its public health. Without this unity, public health cannot take care of itself. The safety of present methods of prevention of goiter also is considered.
Detroit and Cleveland are practically the same size, and as far as is known the natural conditions and the factors determining endemic goiter are the same. I have been intimately connected with the work in the two cities. In Detroit this preventive measure had the leadership and cooperation of the state department of Health, the city department of health, the school board, school physicians and the medical profession. In Cleveland there has been no unity of thought or action.
The Michigan State Department of Health, after surveys determining the incidence of