IN KEEPING with the recently adopted policy of reviewing in this column state and local, as well as national, events and trends dealing with the health and welfare of children, it is timely to call attention to action resulting from the Academy's Study in New York State. The following is quoted from an article by Dr. George M. Wheatley under the title of "Study of Child Health Services . . . a challenge to action":
"With the completion of the New York State Study, we now have for the first time information for our State as a whole on the total amount, distribution, and character of all health services presently available to children as well as knowledge of the professional training of those who render these services. Now that we have this report with its wealth of significant data, how can we best make use of it? It will serve its primary purpose if it is used at the state level by medical, dental, public health, and welfare authorities for the development of long-range plans as well as for immediate action. Community groups throughout the State can make use of the report to study and compare, and, where indicated, work to improve their own health resources for children. For individual physicians, the study presents a responsibility and a challenge. Many practitioners will recognize similar conditions in their own counties. In private practice, in hospital and clinic affiliations, and because of important position in the community, the physician has the opportunity and the means of making a tremendous contribution to the health of children.