HEALTH SERVICES FOR THE RURAL CHILD: Availability of Hospitals, Physicians and Dentists in Service Areas

The "National Health Program" of the American Medical-Association states that "every child should have proper attention, including scientific nutrition, immunization and other services..." Those members of the American Medical Association who have special interest in the field of child health and who belong to the American Academy of Pediatrics have, through an official statement of the Academy, endorsed a similar objective of better medical care and health supervision for all children. Not only private medicine but government and farm groups as well are committed at national, state and community levels to an objective of more and better health services for the rural child. Convinced that physicians, who are caring for children in their daily practice, must assume a greater share of the responsibility for planning for the improvement of child health, the Academy has undertaken an active program to provide better and more evenly distributed health services for all children