Immunization - Passport to Health (1944)

The film titled "Passport to Health" emphasizes the critical importance of immunization in safeguarding the health and future of children. It underscores that children embody the joy, hope, and dreams of a nation, and thus, protecting their health is paramount.
The narrative is centered around a physician educating a new staff member, Miss King, about the significance of maintaining up-to-date immunization records for children. Through conversations with parents and interactions with children in his office, the doctor highlights how immunizations protect against serious diseases like smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and scarlet fever.
The film addresses common misconceptions and hesitations some parents have about immunizations, such as the unfounded belief that experiencing diseases naturally makes children stronger. The doctor counters these misconceptions by explaining the severe risks and potential lifelong complications associated with these diseases. He stresses that vaccines and other immunizing agents act as "catalysts" that prepare the body's immune system to fight diseases effectively before they can cause harm.
A key moment in the film involves a conversation between the doctor and a father, Mr. Brown, who is concerned about ensuring his daughter Dorothy is fully immunized before starting school. This interaction highlights the role of parents in collaborating with healthcare providers to keep their children healthy.
The film concludes with a poignant scene where a child, Dorothy, learns about the importance of vaccinations in a simplistic and reassuring manner, emphasizing the role of immunization as a preventive tool that grants children a "passport to health." The narrative calls for a collective effort to increase immunization coverage to prevent needless suffering and ensure a healthier future for all children.
Sharp & Dohme presents "A Passport to Health" A dramatic new sound film showing how to free America's children from preventable diseases • Dorothy asks her good friend, Dr. Benson, to also give her doll "before" medicine for protection against smallpox, diphtheria and whooping cough. • A recent nation-wide survey by Elmo Roper showed a widespread failure by American mothers to have their children immunized against preventable contagious diseases. HERE is a film which meets one of today's most crucial needs - the education of parents on the benefits of immunization. "A Passport to Health" warns parents against the idea that it is better for children to "catch a disease and get it over with." It points out that the death rate from children's diseases is high; and after-effects are often more lasting than the disease. Whooping cough, for example, which many parents think is "no cause for worry," has a death rate nearly twenty times as high as diphtheria among infants under one year. The movie weaves the information about immunization into the human story of a typical American family. Cast of Leading Broadway Players Philip Ober, the father in "Junior Miss" - Frances Reid, Alexander Hamilton's wife in "The Patriot" - and 5-year-old Patricia Brady, delightful little radio favorite- head the sparkling professional cast of "A Passport to Health." This splendid educational film, reviewed by The United States Public Health Service, is creating widespread attention and interest among health and educational authorities. You, as an educator, have a special obligation to your community to help bring about more general immunization. Right now- as school opens - is the psychological opportunity to interest parents in immunization. Show "A Passport to Health" at your school. Ideal for P.T.A. meetings.
We digitized and uploaded this film from the A/V Geeks 16mm Archive. Email us at [e-mail] if you have questions about the footage and are interested in using it in your project.

[@smadaf]

In 1938, according to this film, there were 30,508 cases of diphtheria registered by the U.S. Public Health Service. The U.S. population in 1938 was 129,824,939. That's about 1 case per 4,255 persons. From 1996 to 2018, there were 14 reported cases of diphtheria in the U.S.-less than one per year. Meanwhile, in 2018, the U.S. population was about 326,800,000, meaning we went from about 1 case per 4,255 persons to less than 1 case per 326,800,000 persons. Nice!

[@tammycampbell112]

My Dad had diphtheria and whooping cough at the same time when he was a boy in the 1930s.

[@jonniemayhem]

7:31 I love how he just lights up

[@LuC-k777]

It’s sad that we still have to have this conversation with parents that don’t/choose not to vaccinate their kids. Like there was a measles outbreak at a hospital from an unvaccinated child.

[@matteopepe28]

Ok, and the kids who got the shot are protected...Also that unvaccinated kid will now have immunization from the infection.

[@brianarbenz1329]

Oh, but doctors don’t know as much as Robert Kennedy Jr. and Oprah! They’ve only been to medical school. That doesn’t give a person as much insight as being a celebrity.

[@smadaf]

You've just told me your friend died-so I'll say nothing about that and ask you to tell me the name of your doll, even though you've already told me it.

[@rightwired]

Back when shots didn't make you grow an extra arm out your forehead.

[@cassiab-ry8fn]

Dont let government tell you health advice!

[@smadaf]

The doctor's arguments are good. But I'm not sure that interrupting and talking over somebody who doesn't already see things your way is the way to help him feel heard and to help him to see you as a reasonable, trustworthy person.

[@alt_abz5958]

I think that was more of a result of communication style in this script, written during a “well listen here young man” era of dialogue in TV and Public service videos.

[@richardthompson6079]

40 years of conservative attacks on Public Education has lead us to forgetting 150 years of vaccine science.

[@alt_abz5958]

When did we start thinking vaccines were bad?

[@alphonsocarioti512]

When vaccinations were rushed through the system bypassing previous FDA long-term testing. (I'm NOT and anti-vaxxer, just answering your question.

[@FlibDokky]

this didn't age well

[@smadaf]

How so?