コロナ第２波のピークを超え、油断できないものの、徐々に収束に向かっている気配を感じます。
ひとえに保健所、医療関係者、そして私達自身の努力によるところだと思います。
日本の国民性を誇りに思う毎日です。
********************
敗戦直後の日本に降り立った米占領軍のクロフォード・サムス大佐はいきなり頭を抱えた。
U.S. Army Col. Crawford Sams arriving in ocuppied Japan in the immediate aftermath of its World War 2 defeat , had no illusion about the sheer enormity of the challenges he faced.
蚊が多く、街には浮浪児。何より天然痘など感染症の多さに驚く。
Mosquitoes swramed and homeless children roamed the streets. But what shocked him most was the pervasiveness of smallpox and other infectious diseases.
公衆衛生部門の長として、保健所改革の難事業に乗り出す。
As chief of the Public Health and Welfare Section of SCAP, Sam embarked on the daunting task of reforming Japan's "hokenjo" public health centers.
保健所は戦前からあったものの、大佐の目には診療所でしかなかった。
The nation had centers from before the war, but they were nothing more than rudimentary clinics in Sam's eye.
東京・杉並に初のモデル保健所を開く。個々の患者の診察ではなく、地域の公衆衛生を担う大切な役所であるべきだ。
He started with creating a model health center in Tokyo's Suginami Ward. Explaining its function as a critically important public office tasked with providing public health services to the community,.
そう説いて、各地に同様の施設を増やす。
He had more such facilities established around the nation.
保健所がこれほどの注目を浴びるのは占領期以来かもしれない。
Perhaps this is the first time since the occupation era that public health centers have come to attract so much attention.
ふだん地味ではあっても、いまだからこそ、その大切さとありがたさが痛いほど身にしみる。
They are low-profile institutions normal times, but right now, their value is appreciated most acutely.