"ONLY TOUCHES THE FRINGE”

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 25, 24 October 1921, Page 6

"ONLY TOUCHES THE FRINGE”

PRESENT SANATORIUM SYSTEM AND THE WAR AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS Impressions of sanatorium treatment for tubercular patients are given by the medical superintendent and tuberculosis officer of the To Waikato Sanatorium in his annual report. "It is now three and a half years,” ths officer states, "since I first camo to To Waikato Sanatorium, and in submit- / ting the annual report herewith I should like to put before you a few of the impressions at which I have arrived as the result of my experience. In the first place, the present sanatorium system only touches the fringe of the matter. . Patients get a few months of treatment and derive benefit or not, as the case , may be. If improved—il would never say that a ease is 'cured'—the patient returns to his old work and, in many cases, breaks down while the more advanced cases, being 1 unable to earn a living wage, fall into lower and ’lower circumstances, and even the best of these cases may be infectious to others. “In my opinion, the effort and the largo sums expended on sanatorium treatment result only in temporary improvement to a large number of cases, and in more or less permanent improvement in a small minority, while the spread of infection among the public is hardly checked! at all. If an effort is to , bo made to stamp out tuberculosis two points must be aimed at—firstly, to get the patients to como for treatment in an early stage; and!, secondly, to make provision for them until they die, or have sufficiently recovered to be able to earn full wages in the open market. Early Diagnosis. “There are two chief reasons why patients do not come for treatment sufficiently early: one is the difficulty of early diagnosis, and the other, and more important one, the question of how the wife and! family are to bo supported while tho breadwinner is undergoing treatment. Early diagnosis can be more generally achieved by the appointment of whole-time tuberculosis officers assisted by tuberculosis nurses. The officer should be stationed and have his consulting rooms in a convenient centre, and should make periodical visits to other parts of the province. In more populated centres a whole-time nurse should) visit patients in their homes, and also look out for suspicious symptoms among 'contacts’ and others and bring them to'see the tuberculosis officer. In the smaller centres the district nurses and nurses for Maoris should be instructed to assist the tuberculosis officer.' "The question how the family is to he supported during his absence from work is a most important one to the breadwinner. Something equivalent to the military pension should be given to the inmates of a sanatorium as a right. At present tho wife and family often depend) on what the wife herself can earn, supplemented by a dole from the charitable aid board. In marked contrast is the treatment of military patients. The moment a military patient enters a sanatorium he receives £l5 per mensem if single and £2l if a married man with one child —and thisi in addition to free board, lodging, and treatment, and clothing for himself. When the two cases are contrasted it is easy to see why the military patients can be got hold of in an early stage and kept under treatment until really fit for ■work and until there is no danger of passing on the infection to others. Working Colonies. "An open-air sanatorium is no place for a man who is seriously ill or dying. A special ward should be provided in which they can die in comfort, and in order that' tho serious cases may be kept from their own homes where they are sure to be sources of infection to others. Under present conditions a man on leaving tho sanatorium usually has to return to his old job—for which he is probably unfit —or to starve. The quest for 'a light open-air job’ is hopeless—there are not such jobs; and if there were they would not be given to known consumptives. Connected with the sanatorium should bo a 'working colony,’ where a patient can either carry on his old occupation or be taught a new one under proper hygienic conditions and medical supervision, and be paid the market value of all the work he is able to do. It is no use giving a consumptive five acres of land and telling him to make a. living on it. Most of them know nothing and care as little? for farming, and none of them can do a full day’s work on leaving the sanatorium. Workshops for bootmaking, printing, joinery, etc., are needed in addition to gardens, poultry farms, etc.; and! qualified in‘structors are needed in every branch. The 'colony' should be near the sanatorium, in order that the workers may be under medical supervision, and so that they may bo sent back for rest or further treatment if they should show signs of breaking down. These suggestions may seem to be idealistic; but they can be carried out, and, are being carried) out in other countries, notably at Papworth in England, and Hairmyres in Scotland.”