MAORI HEALTH CLINICS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 47, 8 February 1944, Page 5

MAORI HEALTH CLINICS

ESTABLISHED IN DISTRICT

TO SAVE MAOIU BABIES

During I In? last week or so Miss*: 11. P. Cameron, head of the District Nursing Division, which embraces nil areas south of Auckland as far as the Bay of Plenty, across to Taupo and Kawliia, and all the Northland, with headquarters anAuckland city, has been visiting Bay of Plenty centres. Accompanied by the District Nurse, Miss H. Constant ne. Miss Cameron visited all the Maori pas in the W hakatane area last week with the object of formini> health clinics. This is a new scheme sponsored by the Health Department and with the full' co-operation of the Maori people should give much more effir cient control of all matters pertaining to the improvement of thehealth of the Maori people in villages where 1 poor sanitation, poor housing and inadequate water systems now ovist. In her opening address at all the places visited Miss Cameron empha-r sised the almost overwhelming job her district nurses were undertaking and without the fullest co-opera-tion of the Maoris themselves the problem was likely to get out of. hand. For instance, in tlio Te Puke area the District Nurse has 2000 people in her care and upwards of IiOUO school children to examine an-r nually for T.A.B. for typhoid. (In this latter case Eurejjean school children are also Included in some places.) Control of Typhoid

Miss Cameron state'd that the typhoid innoculations had proved so successful that during the last fewvears. typhoid had. practically beext stamped out among the Maori peo-r pie. Ilu Auckland, she said, most oral most ail typhoid notifications in the city area came from Europeans. The same could not he said of tuberculosis and it was lor this reason that she was visiting all her dis*tricts to establish clinics, which she hoped to establish in every Maori meetinghouse. To these places the women could bring their children and their health problems on a special Jay for exlanimation.I animation. In this, way the District Nurse, could make a record of all cases for ante and post-natal care : keep a check on alii tuberculosis cases and arrange lor the X-ray 01 all contacts*, who would then bo examined. by the Health Department's T.B. specialist. 11 was also expected that a mcdical officer of the Health Department would visit all schools in the Bay of Plenty this year and this, entailed move work for her nurses, Miss Cameron stated, for they would have to keep a careful check and record of the children they examined for defects, to be submitted to the Medical Officer when he visited the district.

Lectures and Films lin the Te Puke urea nine, clinics were established .while Miss Cameron was there and apart from Uilrunuing of clinics (on similar lines to the Plunket clinics) it is purpos* ed to give health talks, at each'visit and exhibit films, (both talkies - and silent) in furtherance of better health. With the establishment of clinics the Health Department hopes that the district, nurses will be. able to devote more time to reducing the Maori baby death rate which is tht> highest anywhere in the Avorld, and to the successful checking of tuberculosis. Glimcs, with the full eo~operation of the Maori people, especially the mother, can and should give, the 1 district nurses more time for these two important problems. Up till the present the district mir.sehas been ati the beck and call of the district and a considerable amount of time is wasted on sometimes unnecessary travelling.