LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 561, 27 August 1920, Page 2

LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

SOME DRASTIC CrffftMSW.

GOVERNMENT | The following' trer.^fiam^criticism of the suggested Hill by which the administration of public health laws would be placed on the shoulders of local bodies comefi from the Waitaki Hospitawind Charitable Aid Board in the fontf/of circular letter, a copy of which has been received by the Franklin County Council, and will be discussed at next meeting:— We have the honour, by direction of the Waitaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, to convey to you the following resolution, unanimously adopted at,a meeting of the board, in Oamaru, on the 4th inst., namely:^ (a) /"Having carefully considered the proposed provisions of the new' Publio Health Bill submitted by the Minister of Public Health to local bodies f*r comment and suggestions, nnd knowing that all matters appertaining to public health are National questions, involving the welfare of the whole Dominion, this board is strongly of the opinion that all public health work, local as well as general, including the enforcement of individual precautions in cases of infectious disease, and the inspection of old-dwellings and private premises'-at any time,.i» order to secure the remedying of unhealthy conditions generally, should be carried out bv*gfficers of the already existing local branches of the Government De partmeht of Public Health, and not by the town and county councils, town hoards and other local bodies, as is proposed in the Bill." (b) "That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Public Health, the memb§fl|.pf,both Houses of Parliament, local bodies. Also, that the lattff-~bje asketf letttlo'-so the r<s : solution ; and forward it with their endorsement Government, as well as to their local members of Parliament; and that the Government an<J Parliament be urged to pass legislation as soon as possible to bring «rte-a>peK*tion the improved system of'public health administration specified in the re«olufi©h. v

We have been instructed to add the following: comments on the Object generally:-/ •■> .'■ In addition to the vital consitiera>? tiotns of community , v/elfa.-e-\Rhieh-. ate bound up in these new public health proposals, the board is laying this matter before you though it is suggested to »eiiev« pitalboards oi their existing respbh-' sibiljty of enforcing precautions in cases of infectious disease, it has come to our knowledge that several of the borough and oounty councils are not*only averse to taking over the infectious disease obligations, but. their general sanitary duties, such as the Removal rof nuisances and the pullinJMown of insanitary dwellings. It may, thereto**, eventuate chat all such work mjggfcet be placed upon hospital IwarctKpi account of their districts beingflprge, and thus jnuch more suited administration of matters oftfeeherul concern like public health. ||Pai^»ermore,. hospital boards and hosfStif trustees, under the Bill, will have to continue to provide hospital accommodation, equipment, staffs, and treatment "for infectious cases, but will have no voice in the measures which if efficient, would "greatly lessen the amount of accommodation required. Such legislative defect would not exist if the Government-undertook all public "health administration, as boards could then make due representations when necessary to the Government and to Parliament. ' The :j|tard holds to the principle that jjgHHpquestiohs ' w^lcrTMo /noF tw only slightly."' affect persons outside the area of a local body, be controlled f)y such authority; but that everything, especially infectious diseases and insanitary conditions which, though occurring within such district, are likely to affect communities beyond,Jj& bgVii d«' aries, should be underta'MfeJy!||U general authority- the fejwrnmeSe of the Dominion. . M 3& 1 This commonry hal been largely adopted 'ihWew-.Zealand already. In nearly -«|pFpart of Britain the police of other National services areSappointcd and wholly controlled by the local bodies: but this Dominion, from the outset, saw the defects of such a system, and therefore #cfi services here are entirely in the'jbands of the State alone. So also is the medical Lispec« tion of fchool ebUdrea, the dentct inspection *of schoolchildren, the newly-formed brancrf of the Public Jjfealth Department to deal with ■Bllld welfare, and even, such a commatter as the ptepectionp boilers at local sawPMJHs. Wftv iwt,. therefofe, the vital ppstion of local public health administration as well? t-. It is also doubtful whether the should have these additional responsibilities placed upon them, "Supplementary to the burden of purely local questions properly devolving upon them already. Even if they do accept this extra health work, friction and anomalies cannot help continuing. If they cannot af-

ford the annual expense of employing such number of inspectors as the Board of Health in Wellington, with mandatory powers, may deem necessary, it is made,'debt in the outline of the Bill that the/ board can com-

pel them to do so, ore else may appoint Government inspectors for the work and charge them with the cost. Under the proposed system, loss of time cannot help taking place in carrying out the work of most of the

local bodies, A borough large enough may employ- a full-time inspector, but the adjoining county council may elect to pay for the services of a Government inspector, who would probably have to be stationed many miles away, in the centre of some district or combination of districts sufficiently extensive in the aggregate to keep him engaged full time. Delay would be unavoidable before he could attend to advise precautions on the outskirts of an important centre. But if the Government undertook all the public health work,.

the one inspector, for example, stationed in Oamaru, could serve the surrounding district as well. If an efficient system were adopted throughout the Dominion, a much less number of inspectors and other officers vvoul.l be required than if the work were carried out by the Government in only some districts, and by local bodies, supervised by Government, in other districts, as contemplated in the Bill. None of the proposed local authori-

ties will he able to afford the KBOO or £IOOO a year for a full-tpfc iW&H-. cal health officer of its own to give

the expert supervision of the work necessary, and a part-time officer "fsSj out of the question. It is clear in the Hill that the inspectors of local bodies are to bo controlled by the medical and other expert officers of the Department, with the consequent anomato of the inspectors paid by the Iraal authorities being controlled by government officers.

There is the further anomaly that although the most important work of enforcinß infectious disease precautions is to be carried out by local bodies, other work of less consequence is to be wholly undertaken-try' Government officers only.

(Continued.)