EPIDEMIC COMMISSION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1992, 19 June 1919, Page 3

EPIDEMIC COMMISSION.

ITS REPORT LIBERATED, HEALTH ADMINISTRATION CONDEMNED. Wellington, Last Night. The Epidemic Commission’s report has been libera led. It finds, inter alia, that a substantial factor in the introduction of the epidemic was the arrival of the Niagara in Auckland with patients infected with the European disease. The evidence does not exclude the possibility of infection from other vessels arriving before and after the Niagara. The Commission finds that official action showed either non-recognition or disregard of the gravity of the position. The chief faults of the administration arise from: (2) The Auckland branch of the Department being understaffed; (b) the official attitude towards the disease in postulating a distinction between “simple influenza’’ and “virulent,” as if only the latter were infectious or of danger to the community. The Commissioners are “confident that considerable improvements are required in the conditions under which large numbers of people in the cities are required to live, and urge the need for the closest combination between the general Government and the local authorities. They outline elaborate and expensive recommendations for the preservation of the national health.