Some Applause for the Good Doctor

Your article (“Mr. Public Health,” Oct. 13) is a well-deserved tribute to one of America’s most talented doctors working in the public interest, Lester Breslow. As you so well told, he is still spending his full time, with energy and good humor, showing us how to be a healthier society.

Dr. Breslow has many achievements. You document them. I think his most important contribution has been to enlarge our idea of what public health is. He helped us understand that public health is not concerned only with curing illness. He prodded us to see the health effects of smoking. He studied how seat belts saved lives in Sweden and made it a health concern to consider the need for seat belts in this country. He helped us to think in broader terms of health itself, and he is still doing it! More power to Lester Breslow, M.D.

STEPHEN ZETTERBERG

Claremont