MISS HOWARD SPOKE TOO SOON

Chronicle (Levin), 11 July 1947, Page 5

MISS HOWARD SPOKE TOO SOON

AUCKLAND, July 10. "The Minister of Health, Miss Howard, evidently was not in possession of all the facts when she made her statement," said Rev. A. Everil Orr, superintendent of the Campbell's Bay health camp when commenting on the remarks made in the House of Representatives by Miss Howard on Wednesday concerning the - children at the camp. Miss Howard stated that preliminary JePai'tmental inqiiiries had been made concerning the children at the camp who were stated in a newspaper report to be suffering from malnutrition, and although further investieations were beiner made. it was to De

deprecated in view of the recognised difficulties in assessing eauses of mainutrition, that there should be ref erences to parental neglect in specified cases. Miss Howard also stated that inquiries made from the camp ana others into the suggestion that the condition of the children was due to ' parental neglect, had not produced evidence in support of that suggestion, the, causative factors of malnntritiQn in those cases being wholly or almost wholly constitutibnaL Rev. Qrr stated that Miss Howard 's statement that the majority of the children showed eonsiderable improvement with the change of environment and regime, bore out his previous statement. The health camp movement was a voluntary organisation and children may be nominated for admission by any citizen but they were finally elassified by the Health Department. "I am not interested in party politics and I do not profess to be a doctor of medicine but as a soeial worker in the city for 15 years I do know that home conditions in many cases are one of the contributing factors in the condition of'a ehild 's health," said Rev. Orr. "For example, of the 120 children examined and graded, 38 cannot be admitted to the health camp immediately because of neglect on the part ot some parents." Rev. Orr said he wished to acknowledge the lielpfulness of most parents and th'e generous cooperation of the Health Department. Most parents were genuinely interested in their children 's welfare. However, of recent years a minority of parents h$d not been making their contfibution to building their home as a unit of the nation. Because the Pakuranga health camp was not completed, the Auckland Council of the New Zealand Federation of Health Camps was using the Campbell's Bay camp through the cooperation- of the trustees of the property, saidiRev. Orr. It was thought that Ihe Pakuranga projeet would be completed by Chri8tmas but.ke now understood there had been a hold-up of the work which meant that 500 children who were waiting for similar treatment to that giveh by the Manu and Campbell's Bay camps were being deprived of care and attention.