Tuberculosis, mental disorders, and venereal disease now have a greater effect on the health of the nation than any other diseases, Major General Paul R. Hawley, medical director of the Veterans Administration, told the Health Forum of the Harvard School of Public Health Saturday.

Calling mental disease "the leading single cause of hospital bed occupancy," Hawley praised the role of mental hygiene clinics, which make treatments available to veterans with mental disorders not requiring hospitalization. He cited syphilis as the chief venereal offender.

He criticized the compensation and pension policy after World War I.