The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1918. LESSONS OF THE EPIDEMIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1918. LESSONS OF THE EPIDEMIC.

The rem civics made in the House on Tuesday by the Minister of Public Health, as to the failure of the municipal authorities—particularly the City Councils of Wellington and. Auckland—to use the powers conferred on them to safeguard public health, point to a grave weakness iu the sanitaryadministration of the Dominion. Now that the scourge of virulent influenza has shown with great emphasis how we are faced with the menace of insanitary and dis-ease-producing conditions in our midst, the Government will fail in its duty if it does not take steps to put an end to the shameful state of affairs that the epidemic has disclosed. It is all very well for the Minister to rise in his wrath and place the blame on the municipal authorities, but the public will naturally ask what is the good of a Health Department, presided over by a Minister, and carried on by a large staff .of costly officials, if that department does not carry out its functions, but all these years has left the most important work in the bauds or public bodies totally ignorant of the laws of hygiene, and entirely dependent on sanitary inspectors, mostly without scientific training, and whose powers are most restricted. It is a standing disgrace to the Dominion that so much

money has been wasted year by year theoretically in safeguarding the public health, but actually in allowing conditions to exist which might at any moment plunge the country into suffering and death that might well be avoided. In the present visitation there is no question that the virulent form was brought from overseas. The experience in Australia has proved this and has pointed to the imperative need for the strictest quarantine. Had this been effectively carried out as regards all vessels arriving in New Zealand it would seem that we should have escaped the worst of the danger. One of the lessons, therefore, is stringent quarantine of all vessels, and there would appear to be good and sufficient grounds for insisting henceforth oh this measure being rigorously carried out, especially as returning soldiers are likely to be

carriers of all sorts of infection. Taking the right steps to keep infectious diseases out of the country is, however, only one move in safeguarding the public. There still remains tlie more important problem of ensuring sanitary conditions not only in the congested areas of cities, but universally throughout the Dominion. The present epidemic has demonstrated that no tinkering or half measures should be tolerated. The loss of life and lowering of vitality consequent on the .war. demands that there shall be no effort spared to build up a strong, healthy, v:rile nation, and this can only be achieved by eliminating, as far as possible, every menace to public health. The Hon. G. W. Russell hinted in his remarks in the House that city authorities had even put financial and vested interests before the health of the general public It is hard to credit that the

insinuation is justified, and it would be advisable not to assume that so gross a breach of trust has been committed. It should be remembered that although the Minister states that the municipalities have sufficient power to deal with insanitatiou, Hie Mayor of Wellington officially states that the City Council's legal adviser advises that the existing powers are insufficient to control cleanliness. They cannot condemn houses, but can only report to the Health Department. This dual control should be at once ended. Either the Department should—as it ought to —take complete charge of matters affecting public health, or should not only vest full powers

iu the municipalities, but also provide for penalties to be levied on those bodies and their sanitary officers for neglect of duty. Among the urgent steps to be taken are the prevention of overcrowding, the punishment of "slum" owners, the razing of insanitary dwellings, provision of ample air space, water and drainage, and a continuous system of rigid inspection. Every "dwelling should be made fit to live in, and those which contain the rrakeshifts inherent in'jerry-built struc-

tures should be closed. In every case there should be a means of proper ventilation, it being in•cumbent on the owners of tenement property to see that all windows are in such a state of repair that they can easily be opened and closed iu the ordinary way. More drastic powers Are needed to deal with apartment houses and limiting the number of occupants according to the size of the rooms. In the cities and larger towns the housing problem can only be solved by the erection of model three or four-storey blocks of buildings, containing suites of rooms, and surrounded by open ' spaces. It is impossbile to create a healthy population under the

conditions which now exist, and as one infected spot may produce wide-sweeping epidemics,, no such menace should be allowed to exist. The clearance of rubbish is also imperative, and in congested areas--residential and business—should be attended to daily. The health and welfare of children is of infinitely greater importance than the cleanliness of a stable or fowl run, yet far more attention is given to the latter than the former. The influenza epidemic has given the community a terrible shock, and it would be criminal folly uot to awaken from the apathy of the past in regard to sanitation. Drastic legislation is, needed. Meanwhile the municipal' authorities should be up and doing to the extent of their present powers.