HEALTHY NEW ZEALAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 593, 20 February 1929, Page 8

HEALTHY NEW ZEALAND

DEATH-RATE LOWEST iv WORLD

PROGRESS IN PUBLIC HEALTH Press Association WELLINGTON. ! r>r ’ H - " Jtt * Deputy Dire.,' .Gonoivdof Health preventive Medicine Section of I Medical Conference, read a pJI , ' day on the progress i„ p, lblic ** In a .-uriey oi the past half- cen .,, r ) he showed that New Zealand reason to be proud of its health co n ! tries" ° V ° mrared wUh other ! “The present conference.” said rv Watt, “is a definite land-mark i n th (history of public health in this co try, as it is the first gathering 0 £ m,™' cal men under the auspices of the X Zealand branch of the British Jlai ** Association, at which there has' a section of preventive medicine" After tracing the history of Prev tive medicine during the past 50 VPa L Dr. Watt showed that the effort by New Zealand in the interests ! public health placed the Dominion t, a most enviable position. g* land, he said, has nothing to fear froi> comparison with other parts of world. Out of 32 countries. New land has pride of place with a a rate for the five years. 1921-25, of oja S.l per thousand; Australia and i Netherlands being second with a dea/ rate of 9.4 per thousand.

At the otiler end of the list are lt . Straits Settlements, with a rate of y! and Chile with a rate of 30.4.

As regards infant mortality Zealand can also challenge comm* son with the rest of the world r' the period 1921-25 it heads the list J 34 countries, with what is described as “the marvellously low” rate of <• per thousand, Norway being seccrwith a rate of 62, and Australia tbs, with a rate of 58.

At the other end of the list are Chit with a death rate of 265, Rumania vt a death rate of 205, and the Strar Settlement with a rate of 204. In a comparative table setline o the world death rate from tuberculo t for the years 1921-25, New ZealA again heads the list of 25 eountri* with a death rate of 59 per 100 Ofw of population, Australia being secoM with a rate of 60. At the other Z of the list are Straits Settlementwith 312 and Chile and Panama with

Dr. Watt then dealt with other diseases and stated that the death ratiin New Zealand compared with other countries placed the Dominion in thfollowing relative positions: Typhoi. fever, third in a list of 26 countries diphtheria, eleventh in a list c .f j; countries; scarlet fever, seventh in „ list of 23 countries; measles, third is a list of 25 countries.