 Before we go to our classes, I want to say, as your student medical advisor, one final word about tuberculosis. We as Negroes seem to be particularly susceptible to this disease. The reason is, the great majority of our homes are poor, and our work hard, and we don't have money to get treated when we should. Now if you have any of the symptoms of tuberculosis, such as coughing, unusual fatigue, a loss of weight, go at once to a physician for an examination. Tuberculosis can be cured, but only if treatment is started soon enough. Thank you, Dr. Gordon. Thus we close our Negro Health Week service. Hello, George. This is Mary. Yes, your sister. George, Mama's very sick. Your doctor says you'd better come right home. What's the matter? My mother's very sick. She has tuberculosis. She's had it for years. But she'd never see a doctor. I have to go home. Will you tell him? Thanks. I'll be right back. All right. She had tuberculosis. She's had it for years. But she'd never see a doctor. I have to go home. Will you tell him? Thanks. I won't forget this. She was a good woman, Miss Baxter. She had tuberculosis. Consumption, she called. Unsteady, Reverend Jenkins. They say it runs in a family. If Mama had, then I have it too. No. I don't know that it means that at all. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know that it means that at all. Some people think that tuberculosis can be passed down from mother to child. That's not true. I'm not a doctor, but I've read a lot about tuberculosis. It comes from a germ. It's passed along by contact of one person with another. When I hear the same symptoms, Mama has. I have a cough. I feel tired like she did all the time. I can't eat. That's not so good. But what can I do? You be smart. You go to see a doctor. If you can't afford that, go to a clinic. The doctor will test you and tell you whether or not you have tuberculosis. If he says no, that's fine. If he says yes, do exactly what he tells you. But don't let anyone tell you that tuberculosis can't be cured. All right. I'll go to see Dr. Gordon tomorrow. Good evening, Dr. Gordon. Thank you. It's Dr. Gordon. Uh-huh. I'll load it. You got the same thing your mother had, ain't you? I'm not sure, Minnie. I've got to find out. Listen, honey, ain't no use of you fooling yourself. You know you got it. Well, I'll have to get treated. You going in there? Ha! Girl, ain't no doctor in the world can cure you. You know the broker loafer. Well, who can? My grandma can. You see, she makes a special kind of a tea out of herbs and roots and stuffin' for you, knowin'? Oh, construction's gone. She don't charge half as much as this doctor does neither. My mother believes in that. Roots, herbs, and cheese. I'll get to see Dr. Gordon. Come on, girl. I'm getting better, George. Dr. Gordon said I was so sensible to come to see him so early. George, how about you? Of course you went with Mama as much as I was, but you might have caught it, too. Oh, I'm all right. You may feel all right. George, why don't you run over and let Dr. Gordon look you over? He's a real doctor. Promise me you will. Well... Maybe I will. I don't hear anything, but we're right through here. Sit down, girl. I'm going to put a drop of this solution into your arm. It's called tuberculin. Now, in two days, if the spot where I make the injection is raised and written, it means that at one time in your life, two tuberculosis germs got into your body. Oh, it didn't hurt a bit, Doc. How does it look, Doctor? Does that mean I have two tuberculosis? No, but I'm going to send you to a hospital to have an x-ray made. Here's the picture of your chest. Now, that spot there is what we call a primary tuberculosis. It means that the germs got into your lungs at one time. Maybe long ago. But you were healthy and your body took care of you. Gee, I'm glad to hear that. What you've got to do now is to keep your good health. Don't use up too much of your energy. Either end work or play. Or stand out late at night. Eat well, balance meals, and get plenty of fresh air. If the danger sign is fatigue, coughing, lost the weight, or pains in the chest appear, don't fail to come in and see me. Thanks, Doctor. I'm certainly glad to know I haven't got it. Oh, how is Mary getting along? Well, she's getting the very best of care to send a term, and she'll be well pretty soon. Gee, that's swell. Now you see why it's so important that tuberculosis be discovered early. Every young person from 15 to 25 should have a tuberculosis test and an x-ray. You see, they may find, as you did, that they need only rest and care, or they may find that their loans, like your sisters, need treatment right away. The quicker they know and assume that they get treated, the better their chances are to get well. This is especially true of our case. Many of us wait too long before starting treatment. We must teach all people that tuberculosis is curable, and we must show them that every person with tuberculosis is a menace to his family if his case isn't put under a doctor at once. Thank you, doctor. You make me see things in a different light. Right, Mary. It's too bad, Mary. You couldn't go down to see George graduate. But just think how lucky you are. You are well and have a good job. Yes. I wish normal were here. I almost think I hear George's voice.