NATIONAL HEALTH SCHEME

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 208, 18 September 1937, Page 11

NATIONAL HEALTH SCHEME

Preventive Efforts Advocated by Dental President

A VITAL QUESTI0N

The hope that the Government, whon eonsidcring the machinery of a national health sche-me, would give full importance to prcvention, as distinet from remedial and re-parative treatment, was expressed by Mr. J. J, Faulkner, of Hastings, in his presideutial address at the twenty-eighth annual confcrence of the New Zealand Dental Association. "In inaking rcseareh.dealing with' tho huinan teeth wc aro fortunate iu that wo have access to skulls of people who inhabited this eartk many oouturies ago, and \ve cun also examino tho teeth and jaws of livii'.g primitiv.e races who are so far reinovcd irom cuntact with our civilisation as to be living iu whnt wo call natural conditions, owiug aiaiiily to tlieir being unuble to procure our foods," said Mr Faulkuer. "The greatest changes, both physical, and mental, wero brought about in the humau race when methods of agriculture and the storagc of food wero discovered. Tlic old nomadic lifo couid be abandoned, aud people eould eongrcgatc in closcly settler areus. Later lowiis and' cifcies aroso with all- Lhoir epportunities for the growth of arts aud scionces and all those things that wo group under the-titlc of civilisation. People liko the Australian uborigiiiae, wlio failed to discover any way of g'rowing and storing food, re* mained in their original state until tke^ actually ca.me in ■ contact with civiliscd races. . ; . . ; "Physically, man has paid aird is, still payiug a treraendous price for tlie application of this knowledge, and; it is tho purposc-of this..presidential address to try^.to prove that it is not mecepsaiy that this should be-'the casc, Thesa changes -.in environment and food wero at, iirst very "gradual, and nian is ,adaptable.both physically and mentally, but his reacotions are in definite relationship to the rate at whieh, these changes occur. Further-more, in older tiuies the . law of the suivival of the fittest was a most' importalit factor. It operatqd in the'saine way as what is known as culling' does upon the flocks and herds of tho modern farmer. ' 'Health-Mindedness' ' , "In a recent article dealing with the.duties, of the game wardens of the cnormo.us reserves in Africa, the following ,is .wortliy. of no.te: 'It has been pr.OYfid beyond coutradiction that it is most. unfortunate biologically for. any herd or, family: to harbour the decrepit ' aud diseascd. ; In dealing with the huinan, rgce : this aspect cannot be considcred, so it .aemains to coneentratg on.ylio prcveritioh of diseasc, and the moreVwe stpdy>this subject, the more ui'ust-'wc bo iuipressed by : the . trOmendous, aoiount* of •rescureh that- has already been dono, and the poor results in practicul benpflts. . ■ ' • Tho reason. for all this lost endeav,our is that outside of the so-called hcaling proi'essiohs f ew take any interest in the subjects. . People arc notyet liealth-mindcd. Success in life in , | some forih or other, sport, music, a | hundred and one interests, are the maia things; and health is not thought of until it .is. lost.' The farmer or the animnl fancier makcs a kccn study of everything relating to tho health of his charges, and diet 15 rcc.ognised as of pavamount importance. 'It is evi-. dcnt to all how cssential it is from tlic . point of vicw of. fluancial prosperity to t'ho eountry as a whole lo have its farming' carried on eorrecLly and therefore j the educatiou of the farmer is a malter of, importance. But'sucely if only.frorn jv huinan itarian point of view the health of- the liuman raco miist conie beforo most. things, aud it is high tnue that some eoncerted action was devcloped upoir lines that would tend to st'eui the alarming' increase in what are mostly "prdventabl'e .diseases.- , "Dr. Weston Price has made a lifo study of this subject, and has carried, hisv researches to many .parts of , the world." In dealing with alpino districts lic states that in oue villago he visited 'three persons would have to be exaiuined to fmd ono defective footh. In a population of two thousand there is •not a single doctor or dentist. They are not needed because isolation has compelled the people to live on natural foods. "In the islands lying off part of the coast of Scotland, Dr. Price found phy; sical perfeetion and freedom from decay of the teeth in thoso living on, the primitive natural foods, whereas.- tho opposite was the case of those living in the ports and one serious effe.ct in the latter was the rapid progress of tuberc'ulosis. , , ■ Policy of Prevention. • "In tjj.is eountry we are nqw promised a health scheme • providing remedial and reparative •treatment for the people. How. will that ' operate? For purposes of comparison let us review the question of motor accidents. Would it have any good effect if tho Government announcpd that in order to remedy the position that had ariscn it had been decided to have ambulances' and surgeons waiting in proximity to all dangerous corners, and that freo hospital and nursing attention would bo provided for all sufferers? Actually the policy that is being followed 'is the removal of dangerous corners, the elimination of bad railway crossings, and last, but not least, education of the public — in other words, a policy of prcvention. "I feel I am voicing the wisb of ovcry mcmber of this association when I say that we camcstly hope that our Govornmont, when eonsidcring a health , sc-hemo for tho people of this Domin- ' ion, will givo full importance to tliis vital question of prcvention." '