THE WHITE PLAGUE

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1554, 25 September 1912, Page 5

THE WHITE PLAGUE

STRONG MEASURES URGED. ', SPECIAL COMMITTEE'S RECOM- . MENDATIOXS. A month ago an important report drawn up by a special committee of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was presented to that body. The recommendations attached were as fol- ' low:— (1) That the chronic and late cases of consumption must be -.ent to suitable modified sanatoria, or if they remain in their own.homes then the people in contact with them must thoroughly understand the nursing of such cases. (2) . That the Government take more stringent measures re consumption aud other infectious diseases amongst the Natives, aud that the notificatiou of all forms of tubercular disease be carried out more rigidly. (3) That legislation bo passed by the Government to compel treatment and segregation of the refractory consumptive who will not submit to treatment or voluntary self-discipline, and is a source of great danger to the community. The report came up for discussion yesterday. The. chairman (Mr. James Trevor) alluded to a letter he had read in a Christchurch paper referring to the good work which had beeu done there by district nurses; and after reading the report of Nurse Lewis (of Ofcaki) he had coucluded that the district nurse idea was most effective, ne thought that if the good women and trained nurses went from house to house inculcating the benefit of cleanliness, light, and' air, the result would be of incalculable good. He moved the adoption of the report. Mr. Gardiner, who seconded the motion, dwelt on the very heavy expense which the public was being involved in on account of this disease. He did not know if the members of the board were' aware of it, but <£40,000 had been spent in Otaki and Wellington combating consumption during the last five years. Mr. Kirk: Does that include capital cost? ■. _, Mr. Gardiner replied that it did. ' The system he would -recommend to a youirj c'olonv such as this (and one which had been "adopted with success in parts of America and also "6n the. Continent) was the sterilisation of consumptives. ; "Old Mother Nature." Mr. J. A. M'Ewan said that Old Mother Nature had a way of dealing with the .disease, and that was by giving plenty ''of sunlidit and air. There should be no congested areas like there was in this city. Mr. Fletcher: "What about Petone? Mr. M'Ewan: There is no congestion in Petone—no blind alleys, and we have not even the beginning of a Haiuing Street. Continuing,' he said that it did not follow that,the child born of tuberculous parents had tuberculosis. Mr. Gardiner: It would be predisposed to'it. Mr. M'Ewan said that the doctors did not know of the case of a child being bom with tuberculosis. Why- was it that iu agricultural districts there were always far less cases thun in industrial areas? It was because in tho former case they got moro sunlight and air. Miss Lewis, in her report, had laid her finger, on a breeding spot.. when she referred to the case'of. seven people sleeping in tho one room, four of whom wore adults—there you had your breeding ground; Mr.'M'Ewan did not think that, sterilisation would, accomplish all they rcrniircd.

Mr. F. T. Moore commended Mr. Gardiner for tlie hold, stand he had. mad?, and ho'doubted-.'very nii'tch if- sun und air could'disperse the disease which, has such a firm hold on the community. He agreed with the idea that uurses should be employed to inspect the homes and school-children. He also agreed with Mr. Gardiner in-that children.of tuberculous parents wero predisposed to the disease. Jin believed that they, should -apply' common senso to the chocking of tbe disease, and he .would go quite as far as Mr. Gardiner and even farther by extending the treatment to degenerates and victims of other diseases. The Biggest Scourge. ■Mr. It. C. Kiric did not know that the remedy did not lie half-way between the measures suggested by the conservatives and those gentlemen who held other views. He thought that the cost hud been rather overstated, as he had included the capital cost of all these is stitutions. The members of the board must jind did know that the biggest scourge in this country was not consumption—it was syphilis. / Here he was entirely in sympathy with those, who believed in 'the most drostic treatment which had been mentioned. The Hev. H. VanStavoren recom mended the- report to the Government, and to ask the Legislature to deal with these matters. Sterilisation had nothing to'do with the board—it was a. social law. As a matter of fact, there was too much sterilisation in this Dominion al-, ready. Their duty was to forward the. report on to the Government, and to urge it to try and grapple with tho_ scourge of syphilis. Mr. D. M'Laren said this question was o matter for the people, and there were clauses in •, th'o • report dealing with methods which • the people themselves could.- adopt. He also . thought that _ there should be a stricter examination of those coming Into the country from outside—not perhaps the assisted immigrants, but among the taiuted, 'who perhaps paid full fares. Ho advocated compulsory notification, and following up the case and its history* Until that is done even the medical fraternity would be at. fault. In the matter of sterilisation of the unfit they touched a very deep problem., for a man might be unfit, in one diroefftm and a genius in another. Medical Superintendent's Views. Dr. Hardwicko Smith said that they were, not getting the best or oven good results, and he did not think it was much nso waiting for the Legislature to do something. - They had the matter in their own hands. He could not agree with. Mr.-Gardiner that sterilisation was going, to stop consumption, though ho did believe in,the sterilisation of.the.unfit in oilier'directions. Nature saw to it that tho 'fit should'survive, as she found means to rid tha world of the unfit by disease. Consumption was onoof. the means. . It was well to.have some of these diseases, but unfortunately they at times' dragged others down, because,'they could not educate the unfit to bis responsibilities. ' A child could become infected lather, easily from a consumptive parent—more easily than the adult, as it has not so much re-' sisting power. ' Soma statistics were recently collected in Vienna, which showed that 07 per. cent, of "the children showed some taint exposing a predisposition to the disease, but after being treated -on good lines of hygiene,, nine out of ten were saved by a change of'environment. Take the orphanage homes—there was very little disease intliem.though many of the inmates had consumptive parents. That, is a case of good hygiene and good circumstances, which gives every child'a chance of growing into ngco.l citizen. It steamed to him that a lot- of money was spent : upon tho aged in New Zealand, but they did not seem to spend much, on the children; .though they were making .a beginning with the medical inspection of school children. They seemed to la so far.behind other countries in that matter. He quite agreed that compulsory notification was essential—that must be done to u'ct at tho .contact cases. The nurses who would visit the homes and advise and report, working in conjunction with the dispensaries by treating patients in their own homes would do much to educate the people. Sanatoria were the second means, and after treatment there the patient* should l>e given suitable work un tho land—work that would keep them in the country. The chronic, cases would have to bo lSe.pt separate if not siilliciently educated to their, responsibilities Anti-tuberculosis societies w;a? ah .excellent idea, and.he would lie only too glad to deliver a 'series of lectures on the treatment of cmisuiunliou in the home, by which many could be taught to do a great deal to'' strengthen hygiene and stamp out consumption.

On the uiolion of Hie cltaiinian. seconded Ijy Mr. Gardiner, it whs resolved:— "That this board approves nf- the recommendation of the .Special Comi mittee appointed in connection with con.-iiroption, and uses its l>e.-t cndeivoiits to carry Out the proposals, and copies of the report be forwarded to the Minister in charge of hospital?, the Health Department; inr! ,ils3 to , (lis jffe.«jiital Beards tkreuslwut the .Dominion,". ■•■■■•