ENSURING GOOD HEALTH

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3001, 20 February 1926, Page 3

ENSURING GOOD HEALTH

THE NEW MINISTER’S POLICY.

The new Minister of Health is convinced that there is a large field of work to be covered in New Zealand in prevention rather than cure in health, and it will be part of his policy- to impress' upon the people generally that good health rests more in their own hands than in those of the doctor.

The function of the medical profession, remarked the Minister (the Hon. J. A. Young) to a “Post” reporter, was largely to cure disease, but what was more important, to his mind, was that from birth‘upwards every member of the community should be afforded (he best opportunities to acquire health through the conduct; and regulation of their lives along lines laid down by the world’s best teachers in the field of preventive medicine. This would lessen the demandjand necessity for hospitals, sanatoria, and other curative institutions, apart altogether from the economic aspect. The value of good health in the community could not be over-esti-mated. DISPELLING WRONG IDEAS. As so much sickness and disease were” due to ignorance, said Mr. Young, it would be his object to use the resources of his Department towards dispelling wrong ideas about health, thus reducing the need for treatment. The departmental dental clinics throughout the country were rendering invaluable service in caring for the mouths of children. This gave the child a reasonable chance to build up its phyisical strength. Similarly, the work of the nurses in examining boys and girls for defects in hearing, sight, and teeth, and for physical defects which might be obvious —all of which were reported to the medical officers of the district concerned — was enabling the Department to notify parents of morbid conditions which were capable of correction and remedial treatment. EARLY TREATMENT.

When one realised that the population of the mental hospitals in New Zealand was over 5000, and that about 750 people were employed in looking after those patients, one realised the tremendous burden our civilisation entailed and the great responsibility involved in the care and treatment of the sufferers. He was advised by his departmental officers that if people suffering from mental diseases were taken in hand early there was ■ a reasonable prospect of their recovering, and that if they failed to respond to treatment after six months they usually became chronic patients. “I want to encourage the utmost cooperation, wherever possible,” said Mr. Young, “between the outdoor clinics of the public hospitals and, the mental hospitals, with a view to inducing people to have confidence in the departmental institutions and make voluntary application for early treatment, which is much better than waiting until the patient has gone so far as to require compulsory committal. The policy of the Government will be to encourage this, because experience shows that unless cures are affected or within sight within six months of the'patients entry into the home or hospital, the chances of ultimate recovery become very remote.