EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THE FUTURE

To the Editor:—  I would like to take strong exception to one of the statements made in the fine editorial, "Epidemiology of the Future," in The Journal, Sept. 12, 1959, page 188. To say that "Mental illness is the only major public health problem that is not adequately reported" is to hide from the entire medical profession the critical need for morbidity reporting of several groups of illness which are of grave public health significance at the present time. Indeed, one of the greatest stumbling blocks to more rapid progress in subduing today's top killers is the inability to design a method acceptable to private practitioners which would ensure adequate reporting of these "noncommunicable" diseases. Surely the forces of preventive medicine will need to be directed against the public health problem of mental illness long years into the future; however, I would like to suggest moderation in assessing the public