GOITRE IN SCHOOLS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3778, 12 April 1928, Page 3

GOITRE IN SCHOOLS.

TREATMENT SUSPENDED... i Wellington, April 6. The action of the Health Department in suspending treatment of school children throughout the Dominion for goitre has resulted in protests in various parts of the country. The attitude of the Department towards the whole problem may be summarised under three headings; the desirable things in grappling with goitre are the general use of a slightly iodised salt by the whole population to supply the physiological dose of iodine lacking in food and drink, the treatment with iodine under medical supervision of goitres detected in school inspections, and the exercise of care to prevent the use of excessive doses of iodine in the treatment of adults.

Recently there was held in Switzerland an international conference on goitre, the biggest and most important assembly in the history of the treatment of the disease. The findings of this conference supported these three points at which the New Zealand Health Department had arrived independently. The po-» sition now is that while it is known that the treatment so far given in schools has done no harm, the Department is doubtful as to its ability to provide the necessary supervision of school children treated for goitre with its present school medical staff. The children under observation by the Department of School Hygiene total at least 7,000. At the same time, where goitre is detected the Deparmental officers will continue to recommend consultation with a medical adviser. Information is.now being collected to determine just what is the relationship between the staff of school medical, officers, and the number of school children who have to be treated for the growth.