The traditional application of night soil to vegetable gardens and rice paddy results in a most wide spread condition of parasitism, with a variety of helminthes found in Korea. In addition to the above fact, the peculiar habit of the consumption of raw vegetables, fish, crustaceans and mammals provides a means of infestations of helminthes. During the last sixty years numerous Reports were found on the prevalence of helminthes amongst the Korean population in Different parts of the country, and it was generally recognized that ascariasis, hookworm disease, filariasis, clonorchiasis and paragonimiasis constitute the important helminthes disease in Korea.
In practical measures of parasite control activities the main measures are summarized as mass-treatment, night-soil disposal and transmission, control. Among the three, the mass-treatment has been commonly applied, However, no reduction of transmission has been obtained by treatment of a population. Therefore, the ultimate eradication of parasites will depend upon the application of comprehensive environmental sanitation measures. The basic environmental measures will be concerned with (a) the safe disposal of human excreta, (b) the provision of adequate and safe water supplies in such a Way as to promote a higher standard of personal hygiene in the population, and (c) the prevention of food contamination by fecal material. Additional environmental measures will deal with the improvement o Housing and housing hygiene and with general community development. Community ´development means social and cultural as well as economic development.
The control measures on the parasitic endemic diseases, such as. Clonorchiasis and paiagonimiasis are the good examples for community health development in Korea. The control of Clonorchis and Paragonimus infections are ´theoretically very simple, as the infection can only invade the human body by way of encysted metacercaria which are taken into the body when eating passive intermediate hosts (fishes, crabs and crayf ishes). Although prophylactic measures in the case of the infections deal with above merely consist the fishes in cooking or sub merging in hot water before eating them, it is exceedingly difficult to carry out such simple measures in -face of century old traditions, to which the relatively primitive population clings with great tenacity. There is no one universally applicable method of control. The choice of methods must be dictated by the nature of the environment, the habit and custom of the people, the pattern of transmission and the resources of the country. There must exist a well organized public health infrastructure. Since a control programs is of necessity on a long-term basis and continuity in its implementation is essential. An investigation should be made on the prevalence of the diseases and its relationships to irrigation engineering, freshwater ecology, agricultural methods, liydro-electric schemes, and the development of communities in affected areas. In conclusion, however, the control of clonorchiasis and paragonimiasis in Korea is not an impossible task. A combination of efforts with major- emphasis on health . education and mass chemotherapy coupled with governmental aid in enforcing -legislative public health measures -could reduce the diseases. combination of efforts with major- emphasis on health . education and mass chemotherapy coupled with governmental aid in enforcing -legislative public health measures -could reduce the diseases.
Health education in particular attempts following four things:
(a) It supplies a person with enough general knowledge about a disease to make the preventive ´measures.
(b) It makes a person feel sufficiently about the importance of his own health to make him alter his behavior and adopt these preventive measure.
(c) It makes him concerned for the health others.
(d) It tries to make him feel so strongly about the first three that are supports and even initiates preventive action by the community. .
Educational efforts should be directed primarily toward school children because it is during the early years that most persons become infected, and also because children are- less entrenched in their food habits so that, the educational process should be involved at various levels in successive changes of knowledge, attitude, behavior, habit and custom of their lives.
The most parasitic endemic diseases are related to community diseases. In caring for a sick community, the first stage is to gather epidemiological data, the next is to make inferences from it to make the community diagnosis. The third is, to prescribe community treatment or community health action as part of a community health action program. The community health action is the sum of the steps decided upon to remedy the critical features revealed by the community diagnosis. Action takes various forms; health education is the most important.
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