T.B. AMONG MAORIS

Chronicle (Levin), 20 May 1947, Page 4

T.B. AMONG MAORIS

POO# LIVING CONDITIONS SAID . TO BE CAUSE A considerable improveiilent in the living conditions of the Maori race was a problem New Zealand must tackle immediately, said Dr. T. M. Wilson, when speaking to members of the Levin Junior Chamber of Commerce last week. They were livihg under. extremelv unsatisfactory conditions in wretched" environments, and until somethihg was done there would be no hope of lowering the high incidence of tuberculosis among the native race. Tuberculosis was uhknown td :he natives wheh they were liVing under their old conditions, he cohtinued, but had become apparsnt through the change in their mode of living. The disease; he ?laimed, had been introduced to native races with the adveht of civilisation, and had takeh such a hold that in ihany countries the native races had been almost wiped out. In • the older races; such as the Jews, the diseaSe was riot so rife, as they had become resistant and consequently not ' sc susceptible. In New Zealand it was sCattered arilohg the population, but was pa'rticularly apparent in the Maoris. Fresh air ahd light was the deadliest enemy of the tuberculosis germs, added Dr. Wilson Exposure to sunlight would kil them in a few hours, and ihdirecl light a little longer. They thrivee xi dark and dirt.