CONTROL OF T.B.

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 50, 20 February 1945, Page 5

CONTROL OF T.B.

FORTHCOMING HAMILTON

CONFERENCE

WHAKATANESENDS DELEGATE

| The forthcoming conference of hospital authorities to be held at Hamilton for the purpose of establishing a T.B. sanatorium in the South Auckland district found the Whakatane Hospital Board fully interested! in the proposal providing the original suggestion of the? Government meeting all capital expenditure was strictly adhered to. Introducing the subject ati last Friday's meeting the chairman (Mr L. Buddie) .gave a brief report on the subject from the Dominion conference at Wellington which he recently attended. The. Hokia'nga Hospital Board, he said ? had urged that the control of T.B. was a Avholly national responsibility and should be made the subject of a commission to investigate the full facts. Other boards urged that where Maori populations were concerned a greater Government subsidy than that at present obtaining should be forthcoming. With regard to Opotiki's attitude towards the llamilt©n conference it had simply declined to send delegates.

The Mr A. added that Opotiki's reasons, were that. T.B. was a Government matter and they could see no reason why small boards should have to commit themselves to heavy expenditure.

Mr Mullins who was the board's delegate to a previous conference on the same subject said that most boards who were interested in the establishment of the sanatorium were prepared to go ahead providing the Government bore the whole of the capital cost. There was no reason at present to believe the Government might not be aggreable to do this but at the same, time he considered it would be cheaper for Whakatane to be a sponsor to the scheme rather than to be charged at the full rates per bed as an outsider. It simply meant that the boards supporting the scheme would be prepared to shoulder only the administrative costs.

* Mr McCready asked what the board had to go on. He considered the Government very lax in. not. making more information available' to the board. . The secretary agreed that the 180 bed sanatorium provided by the scheme to his mind seemed hardly large enough. The Chairman: The first duly of the. board is to make provision for the sufferers in its own district. If we decide we cannot see our way to join the associated boards we should all be agreeable to taking up the cudgels and battling independantly. Mr McCready: I still think we are in an invidious position. The Statcj has everything by way of data. I think we arc entitled to more help than we have had from them. Unless we can get fuller information I think we should go on strike like Opotiki. The secretary pointed out that even though the Government might find the capital cost the maintenance cost of the sanatorium was likely to be. a heavy one. The chairman said he could see no harm in the board appointing its delegates to the provisional' conference j signifying its willingness to* support the scheme on the basis of the original suggestion being adhered to. In the event of any variaTion. of this such as the Government refusing to meet the capital cost, the whole subject should be referred back tio the board. The board decided to adopt the chairman's .suggestion and appointed Mr C. A. Suckling as« its dele 1 - 1 gate. The conference takes place at Hamj ilton on Saturday next.