CONSUMPTION'S CURE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 980, 22 November 1910, Page 7

CONSUMPTION'S CURE.

MORE STRENUOUS CAMPAIGN, CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER SUMS UP. Dealing with tho treatment of tuberculosis' in his annual report, the Chief Honltli Officer says a- good deal remains to bo dono before it'can bo said that tlio campaign a2ainst this, tile mosfc provalent of diseases, is boinfi efficiently'conducted..- During tlio past six years, four sanatoria havo been opened, and annexes have been erected .in connection with some of the principal hospitals,' which, with the Govern-! inent Sanatorium at- To' Waikato, pro-, vido a- total of 160' betls for tlio oponair trcatmeiit'of tho disease. This total, is mado uo of: Waikato Sanatorium, GO beds; Otaki, 35; North Canterbury, 35; Pleasant Valley, 30. In addition to tho above, special annexc-s, providing in the aggregate- accommodation for some- 100 patiente, : have been erected at various hospitals, notably Wellington; New Plymouth, Nelson, and Palmerston —in fact, there are few .hospitals whero special, provision has :jiot been made for patients in the early stages, but little of no provision lias been mado for those, in the later stages of the disease. . '. -.--.■ ■•

A Blot oh tha Campaign.:: Tho lack of. proper;provision for.tlio chronic and incurable patient is a blot on what might otherwise be regarded as a satisfactory initial campaign. Aworking camp has also been established near Rotorua, where. patients in whom the disease has been arrested, but who are not fit to resume their ordinary occupations, are engaged in treeplanting.', During the past year, tho patients at the camp have practically supported-themselves by va£os paid, them by tho Lands . Department fo'rwork done. -The time is' now ripe, .Bh-jV Dr. Valintine, _to press the campaign;, Tho public is.better informed as to tho need for precautionary . measures,-' and members of the modical profession .are' less reluctant'to'notify case-s of diseai* than was the case in tho early days of the Department. Moreover, with tho now Hospitals Aet, it is. nossiblo for boards, with tile aid of tho combined Departments (Hospital and Health)— especially jf tho boards assunio tho responsibilities :of local authorities • under tho Health Act—to put into operation measures of a more far-reaching nature than was possible under the old law, and tho old organisations, where, hospital, health, and charitablo aid matters wero controlled by separato authorities. . Extended Plan of Action. : Briefly,, the extended plan .of . campaign is as follows:— .'..-' ... ~'.. :"''■ (1.) Rigorous enforcement of notification by the medical profession of all forms of tubercular disease. Though, there were 800 deaths, there were only 556 notifications last year.

(2) A wider dissemination- of literature as to the causes of tho disease, and its prevention. ' : (3.) Whole-hearted attempts to encourage the,"early" case, and also thoso who had been in contact with consumptives, to sook treatment by means of (a) Extension of tho out-pa-t-ient departments of our general 3ioswith a special branch derotfld : to the diagnosis and treatment of chestcomplaints. From such a department tlio patient, could be .drafted for treatment to ait institution suitable, for hi? case. This department should'. v alsir keep;,under . supervision, patients <\vhoy Ma-re returned from sanatoria. -" (b) District nurses, who will keep .'in , -touch", with tho.patients treated in the outpatient department, and eee that they conform to tho rules of life laid down [by the medical attendant, arrange for 'it-he examination of suspected cases or "co-ntacts," and keep 'tho out-patient department informed of, thoso who have returned from sanatoria, (c) Medical inspection of school children: A report on this subject is now before tho-Gov-ernment. If put into operation it should prove'of gfeaJ valuo in detecting early' cases' among school children. (4) Extension, of "sanatorium", accommodatiott for the educativo treatment of suitable cases. Tho smaller hospital boards should combine for tha purposes of erecting and- maintaining •such. ■: : ■ . ■::. -:...•.:.;■ ' ■ .-,....:;. -..., ■' (5.) Provisoii: by' all hospital boards of suitable accommodation for patients , in .tho chronic and - "incurable .stages .' of the disease, special wards ■ being needed for these classes. ■' " ■ ' ~ (6.) , Bstablishmont of a "working" sanatorium, whero patients could bo taught outdoor occupations—farming, bee-culture, forestry, tho planting , of fruit farms, etc.' (7.) By co-operation between public and : private ■ philanthropic . agencies, whereby a nursing system could bo de.Yoloped at a of 'efficiency with a minimum of cost;, and aiso a system'of relief, whereby tho depend-' ants on those isolated would bo' well cared for during tho absenco of tho breadwinner. , ' , ■ ■•■ :■

(8.) By co-operation with'the Agricultural Department, as heretofore, in matters relating to the control of. dairies''arid dairy herds v and the ;sipx-) age, conveyance,, and distribution, 'of milk; nor'must be forgotten the need for better supervision of the slaughtering and inspection of pigs. • "There is every reason, 1 . , says Dr. Valintme, "fo-r believing that hospital boards will gladly work in the- direction outlined,. and 'that tho ootitrbutory authorities will cheerfully grant the money needed." •■-■■• Beware! "Tho Corm of Laziness."

"But:there is one special danger," added Dr. Valintine, "which was commented on by tho Medical Superintendent of tho AVollington 'Hospital in his repori on the Otaki Sanatorium; 'Thorp is a.tendency v/hen treating patients iiv New Zealand to attempt to kill tho germ of consumption by cultivating the germ .of laziness and sluggishness.' Dr. Hardwick-Sraith then : goes on .to ; say that it is questionable whether' it is hotter for a patient to survive tho disease than 'lose his moral fibre. , . In these remarks. I .heartily concur, and it should .bo tbo aim of all.responsible to counteract tbo tendency referred to, especially if tho early cases como forward, as it is hoped they will, for sanatorium treatment. If such patients do not do all they .can to.assist- the boards in an efficient' and economical management of tho institutions, they, will not only act against, their own. interests, but against- tli'o\ interests - 'of those who come after them; The public will not stand tho ;cxppnsd that additional sanatorium .accommodation, will entail unless they feel that they are getting a measure, of return for tho expenditure, not only in tho.shapo of persons, cured of tho disease, hut of persons ready and willing to resumo the battle of life We know that tho statistics of sanatoria where graduated labour Hinder medical supervision is one 'or. the features of treatment compare very favourably witli those of institutions where tho patients remain in moro or less enforced, idleness. In health, want of occupation is sure : to load to moral and physical degeneracy, and tho samo applies to the consumptive patient whoso day in passed in discussing symptoms with his : follow patients, or in criticising tho ninnagement of tho various institutions in which ho has boon an inmate. Whether in tho early or Jato stages of the disease,' wo .should do everything in our power to improve tho lot' of tho consumptive. Kor thoso who nro fatally stricken let us 'provide tho very best accommodation and treatment possible, and in this wo must not bo influenced entirely by tho cost: but for thoso who are alile, but unwilling, to mako a dogged effort to keep themselves in a condition to resumo tho strugglo o£ life, let no falso sentiment bo allowed to deter us from doing'our duty."-