TUBERCULAR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 110, 3 February 1920, Page 8

TUBERCULAR SOLDIERS

PROVISIONS MADE FOR THEM STATEMENT BY TflE MINISTER OF DEFENCE The Following statement .regarding tho provisions made, under different heads for men returning to New Zealand after service with the N.Z.E.F. Buffering from tubercular disease is issued with tho authority of the Minister of Defence:~ 1. Tlio following provisions are made for tubercular patients, opart, from treatment in the sanatoria• Medical. (i) On discharge frorii .sanatoria these patients are supplied with a speciallyconstructed' tent or wooden shelter if suitable accommodation is not available nt their homes. fii) Medical,attention is available to these patients at the expense of the Defence Department at any time they may apply for it. Ciii) Should the disease again become active these cases may be again admitted to a, sanatorium. . 'ivl Patients whoso medical condition is such as to render them unsuitable for treatment ill a sanatorium ar? trmtcd at th« public hospital nearest tlreir homes, or in some eases where conditions are suitable, actually at their homes; in either case a special tent or wooden shelter is provided by the Department if rcouired. (v) While in the sanatoria patients who are fit are employed in occupational and vocational training. This training has the. double object of occupying and interesting the patients, (ind so relieving the monotonv of tho long stay..in the sanatorium. and also of .training them in some occupation suitable lor their condition on discharge from treatment. At Cashmere Military-Sanatorium' there is a poultry farm with over GOO fowls, and instruction js given by a competent roaiiairer: basket-making and, carpentry are also taught: courses of instruction in bee-keeping and fruit .farming are being nrraneed. At Pukeora Military .Sanatorium leather, embroidery, and basketwork are taught. Market gardening is tauerht bv the head gardener. Attached to,the sanatorium, is a farm of 3(10 acres, where the patients get practical training in the .various occupations of agriculture. Arrangements are in hand for teaching 'wool-classing, poultry farming, and bee-keeping. A new and larger carpentry workshop, is being erected, as the present accommodation will not be sufficient. 1 \ Pensions. Each case is considered on its merits, sympathetic treatment being given by the War Pensions Board in dealing,with applications from tubercular soldiers. Should a discharged soldier be admitted to a sanatorium, he is granted a. full pension while in the sanatorium. At the discretion of the board this pension may; be, supplemented by a sum up to d£l per week. An "After Care" Branch. An "after care"' branch, employing suitable officers, has been formed under the Eepatriation Department, and one of the objects of this branch is to'give sympathetic. attention to T.B. cases, treatinc them individually. 1 A. list is .being prepared of all T.B. cases, and tho Department will visit men in consumptive sanatoria, and follow them up after discliarge. All paid secretaries of the Eepftriation Department have been instructed to cot into touch with any tuberr.ular men in tKeir * districts, and ha%o Wen advised how to assist them. Special provision is made at tho Departmen's farm at Tauherenika'u as regards medical attention, diet, and suitable opentotal number of soldiers returned to Nejf Zealand as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, or suspected pulmonarv tuberculosis, is ■■987. Of these fiM are at present under treatment anil 483 have been discharged from treatment. The latter number appears unduly large, and-it is probable that many of these cases were merely suspicious, and not actually pulmonary tuberculosis, aAd the fact tliat'so many have- not reouired treatment suggests the probability that,in many cases the condition was hot tubercular. ". '. ' , , . If a "returned soldier breaks down m health through a disability duo, to or aggravated by serviced the following opportunities for relief are.vnvaikblo to '^j ll He can receive medical attention at the expense ,of tlio, Defence department. 2 If his disability is suchfthat. he is totally incapacitated his pension is increased to the full amount. At the discretion of the Pensions Board his pension mav be supplemented by an amount "3. Afehemc to ' t ' , ' e l s "PP , ? inent^ io t "toi pensions in cases of, breakdown or total disablement is . under consideration the present time. . .