The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1914. WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 33, 30 May 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1914. WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH.

The work which is being done in New Zealand by the Society for the Health of Women and Children has ot late attracted wide attention and much credit is due to Dr. Truby King for the - great amount of time and thought he has for so long given to the important work of this Society. Recently the United States Department of Labor issued a pamphlet explaining what is being done in this Dominion tor the promotion of the health of women and children and the Chief of the Bureau of Children, speaks highly of the work done by the New Zealand Society. He goes further when ho says that there is every reason to believe that voluntary work on similar linos in the United States would produce similar results. Attention has previously been drawn to the fact that five years’ working ol the Dunedin branch of the Society gave very clear indications that its efforts had been thoroughly justified. During a period of seven years from 15)00 to 1907 the average death-rate among children under one year in Dunedin and suburbs was 8 per cent. For the fiveyear period, 190(5-1911, the average fell to 6.5 per cent., while for the last three years of this period the average was (5 per cent ; for the last two years, 5 per cent ; for the last two cent. The year 1912 showed a further fall in the infantile death-rate to 3.8 for every 100 births. 11 the figures for New Zealand are taken as a whole, it will be found that the percentage fell from 8.3 in 1902 to 5.1 in 1912. The pamphlet referred to above gives statistics for other countries, and if they are compared with the New Zealand figures it is easily understood that the United States authorities are favorably impressed by what New Zealand is doing. The table referred

to is for the year 1910, and is as follows : Infantile death-rate. Per cent. St. Petersburg and Moscow 28 Vienna ... ... 17 Berlin 15’ Glasgow ... 14 Paris 12 London ... ... 101-3 Stockholm and Christiania 8f In conclusion, the writer of the pamphlet urges that both in city and country districts an effort should be made to instruct mothers and those responsible for the care of infants in how best to preserve the health of the little ones, and strongly recommends the merits of the New Zealand Society’s work for the consideration of Club women and others who are interested in social reform in making plans for infant welfare campaigns in the smaller towns and rural communities of the United States.