The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1907. THE HEALTHY NATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3769, 1 August 1907, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1907. THE HEALTHY NATION.

Sir Frederick Treves is the leading optimist of the medical profession. “I am certain it is safe to prophesy,” he said recently ‘‘that the bare time will come when hospitals for infectious diseases will be empty and not wanted.” He looks forward to the time when it will be as anomalous for a' man to die of scarlet fever, typhoid, cholera, or diphtheria, as it would be for a man to die of a wolf’s bite in England. For prevention is better than cure, and the aim of medicine to-day is to prevent disease by removing or controlling its causes, rather than to cure disease, which should not occur in a scientificallyordained community. We are constantly”at war (remarks a London paper) with millions of microbes, and the weapons we wield, as Sir Frederick says, are the sanitary " regulations of municipal government, the sanitary inspector, and the medical officer of health. The ratepayer who grumbles at the weight of his burden does not always realise how far the “ fads ” of which he complains in municipal administration are essential to the modern policy of making life better worth living. The betterment of housing ' conditions, the prevention of overcrowding, the removal of dirt, the organised crusade against corruption and adulteration, the regulation of the milk supply and of factory and workshop conditions, the notification of disease, and the whole machines of the sanitary system are vital to the well being of the people, and the expenditure of money on these agencies is the best investment any community can make. They promote health, happiness, and efficiency, and should be regarded by the people as being their essential weapons in the fight against disease and degeneracy. The fundamental proposition is that disease is preventive, and that it is the duty of the •community to prevent it by taking proper precautions, and shaping its environment so that health may be the heritage of all who are born into this world. If the people can be brought to see that health of body and cf mind rests largely with theinselves, and that perfect hygiene is essential to happiness, medical science will do the rest. Health is a matter of common sense —the least common of all senses —and if our leading medical men devote themselves to the propagation of this doctrine a vast amount of disease and suffering may be swept -away. And as the healthy nation must be the efficient

nation, this is a very important phase of the world’s economical problems.