MOVE AGAINST T.B.

Chronicle (Levin), 27 March 1948, Page 4

MOVE AGAINST T.B.

Press AssociaUon ) -

• Immunlsatien Treatmeat Is Dfipg Studied

(Per

' WELIilNGTON, Parch 26. *. sgs§ion of Parliament wilf see a determined attempt to stamg out pn,cp apd fgr all the scgpyge of tiiherculosis frdm' New Zealaiid. A Bill ,was drafted in preparation for ^egppfafion for last sesgion, but it was witbdrawn. Since then, "the Bill: has beeri redrafted with improve.mehts andl it. will definitely come down. thig- year. .... - - It 'bas the actiyfc/ intefpst pf the peyriy-lipBpltttpd l^Einistgr of Health \ (Miss * Howard), "and the Prime Mmister (Mr, Fragpr)' haf gayeij Ms ung.ualified support, -p|rticidarly through Mds interest in " the Maori people,* to whom it is the jnain cause of death. • . Ohicials of the Health Department are retiepnt at the moment about what is to be done, pret'erring to wait for the , Bill. , It. fs known, ho weyer, tliat they Fave s'tudied pyergeag methQdg qf vaecine inppunisation and that • they ha vp intensified 'their efforts to . improvp metliods of eontrqj, diagnqgis-and fjreatment. One cpncrefp px^nipjp>ig tl|e i'a.ct thaf thp Department sh'ortly'hopes tq take over the large publie library |n Xewtqwri, ^Vellington, for. researcji purposes. 1 ' T.R. Ampng the Maoris. Tulmrpq losis .amopg |he ' Maojf|s . wps a live issne' af a roeiting oi the Mauri\)rpjfare Spclal Cpmmitte.es tJjLfflllghopt Xew Zealand who mef in-. Parliament Buildings for four days last wee^. Ppjegates to|d some harrowing stori.es about the effeets of this fell diseasp . nmqng tlie native people. Many rpquests were made for the services of, t|ie pne mpbile clinic, which is station-' ed at Xew Plymouth. The Primp •Minister answere| that this clinic. was f'ully pccupied in its own area, but he would give favourable eonsideration tp thp buildiug of more mobile clinies- to serve Xorth Auckland' and the East Coast areas, particularly. )Sighi/icai).t fapts wjijf'k -emerged from a discussion with experts in the Health Depait.mept this week were: — (1) Tuberculosis is the hfth highest cause of death in Xew Zealand today; (2) tuberculosis is the highest single cause of death in females in the age group 20-3.0 years, bpth for Maoris and Europeans; (3) tub,erpulos}S is the highest single cause of death among ihe Mapri people; (4) one-flfth ' to phe-sixth pf the total hospjtal population in Xew Zealand is snffering from tuberculosis; (5) over one-third of the registered cases are knowp to be in an active infectioua or irLifcc^ious sttitfij (6) in.stitntiop9.i accom{nQdati°n 4s 'availnble for only hal-f of these infectious eases. Stark Faets Pertprb Goyerumenf,, With fhese starjt facts to work on, it is no wqnder that jhe Government is peffurb'ed 'about the scourgc pf tuberculosis. N- A geparate Oranch of the ifenlth Department^ known as the . Division of Tuberculosis, deals with tl||^ ..dreadiitli seq^se^ aipd; its ,offici,aIs. sfn f$ihie sonl p sfaggering ligures; wliich warrant the attenlion of every Xew Z6alander. • ' Take, "for instance, the deaths from tpbprcjdosjk; Ip its puimonary forms it gccQunte.d fqr 485 Europeans in 1944, 496 iri 1945 and 459 in 1946), whilp tpp h|gori figures- were 285, 292 and 292* respepfively. iji its nopi puimonary forms it accounted for 10|3 Europeans in 1944, 105 in 1945 and 102 in 1946, tiip Maori figureg heing 87, 81 and 103. * " ■" * '" Xo i'ewer tlian 956 Xpw Zealanders died from one f'orm or other oi* tuberculosis in 1946. At - the end of 1946 no fewer than 9617 Xew Zeahmders . including 2584 Maoris, were sufl'ering from either the pulmqnary pr nonpulmonary form of tuberculosis. Xew cases of tuberculosis in 1946 numbered 2320, eompared witli 25J2 in 1945 and 2254 in .1944. The known- incldonce -rates fpr all forms pf tubpteiilqgis are: -» European 4.32 per; cerit. j)er: 1000; Maoris 24;56 per ?ent.- .pgriiTSfiOj- * The -diS'trict nurs|ng- st aif-'pi; the'Division of Tuhercnlosis-: pumhef ing 217 yis empjoyed by eit|j.ej- ffie D^partnfeh^^r b\- variotis hQSpital ltQards. - ' BullicK i| *|?o say of the workybf thes.e; utodefii ^ifghtingaij^" that baltb^efher 7874 pntients are flfjll^eih^^hi^fvised. These nurses'aiso t'ound 82^ new cases pf tuber.ciilpsis in on.e ypar. Without catering, into the pros and cqjis "of the system of tfpatmont, ofji- " cials of thp -Health Department are intensely interested' in the possibilitips pf the B.G.G. vaccine immunisatiqn treatjnent nqw being u§ed in Ganada and Scandinavia. The offieials claim tliat results ifchieved wjtl) this vaccine suggest that this form of immunisatiqn coiild (vplJ be introduced into Xew Zeajand. Interesting to country folk are the findings of the tuberculosis committ.ee pf the Medieal Research • Couneil that tuberculogis infection from cattle has been respoiisibl.e fqr only a very small rjumber of the cagps registered. The Health Department pfiieials seem to agrpe that" the chief case of tubercuidsis in Xew Zealgnd undonbtedly is the human type pf irifeetiojj. *"