[The essentials of a modern campaign against tuberculosis with special emphasis on the general B.C.G. vaccination (author's transl)].
1. In the proposals for the reorganisation of the campaign against T.B., published in 1973, the german Central Committee focused its attention on the search for sources of infection and their elimination. Closely connected with this is the use of the tuberculin test as a means of verifying cases, and in the estimation of the epidemiological situation by determining the risk of infection. 2. Only the elucidation of epidemiological conditions can vouchsafe the definite use of the effective measures possible today. The indefinite vaccination of the new-born hinders this attempt considerably. In the main the immunal prophylaxis of those exposed to the disease can be continued. However, in certain cases chemical prophylaxis should be applied. Mass X-ray examinations must be increasingly assessed in the light of general precautional methods. 3. Criterion for the danger of tuberculosis is the risk of infection. This risk can be determined by representative tuberculin tests which can be carried out singly in each federal state in order to do justice to local peculiarities. A risk of infection of less than 1%o makes indefinite measures for the most part superfluous. Furthermore, in the long run, the further trend of tuberculosis can be kept under observation by continued determination of the risk of infection with random samples. 4. The main task of the Public Health Service in the campaign against T.B. is the search for the sources of infection. The more a measure helps to achieve this aim, the more important it is. The ensuing hierarchy of measures taken should form the basis of all planning and organization.