IN GOOD HEALTH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 37, 23 November 1940, Page 3

IN GOOD HEALTH

NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT. MEDICAL OFFICER’S STATEMENT (Per Press Association). AUCKLAND, November 22. A statement that the people of New Zealand could be entirely free from worry about the health of the Dominion soldiers in the Middle East was made by a senior medical officer who has. been invalided home to Auckland after commanding a field ambulance in Egypt There was a tremendous difference, he said, between conditions making for good health in this war and in the Great War, and from his own personal observations and experience over many months he knew parents and relatives could be absolutely reassured about their soldiers. ‘‘When my unit first arrived in Egypt,” he continued, “we had the job of looking after the camp, hespital, so we saw every sick man, whether be was a mild case who could be sent back to ..the lines in a few days, or whether he had to be sent on to the general hospital. While there were a certain number of minor things, such as irritation to the nose and throat caused by sand, colds, and abrasions and bruises caused by the handling of mechanical equipment, which is a distinctive feature of a modern army, 90 per cent, of the cases handled were ones which in civilian life would probably never have been reported to ; a doctor, but which in an army must necessarily be reported.

Free From Serious Illness. “The experience of medical officers and combatant officers who served in the last war clearly showed how much more free from serious illness and disease are the men of this war. This is shown by the very small number of deaths' from sickness, the absence of typhoid and para-typhoid, and the remarkably small number of pneumonia cases. There have been astonishingly few cases of serious illness. “Various factors have benefited the men of this war. One is that the medical officers know how to deal with serious types, whereas in the last war we more often than not had to feel our way. Again, before the war the Director-General of Medical Services in New Zealand and the assistantdirectors in the various districts, took care to obtain the opinion of the highest authorities on diseases likely to be prevalent in the Middle East. As a result all the medical officers had the necessary information available to them when they began their duties with the soldiers. “The men themselves have also been responsible in no small measure for the high . standard of health among them. Advantage was taken of the voyage to Egypt to give lectures to soldiers on health topics, and the high standard of intelligence among New Zealanders helped considerably to prepare the ground for maintaining the health. The comfort of the transports also made a tremendous difference, there being a complete absence of conditions making for disease. Excellence of Rations. “In Egypt, too, the excellence of the rations and the manner in which they have been cooked and served are greatly in advance of wliat the men of the last war experienced. Sanitary and hygienic arrangements were, in addition, extremely stringent, and welfare arrangements there have greatly assisted toward a very satisfactory health result.

“The New Zealander still makes the same good impression on the people of the countries he visits as did the soldiers of the last war, and his high general standard of self-discipline, where once he has asked and been given the reason for various instructions, has also led toward the general result.

“Parents will also be glad to know of the assistance given by British, American, and French women in Egypt in entertaining the men on leave. Extreme care has been taken by them to ensure that the __ girls the soldiers meet at functions held for them are of the type the men would meet in New Zealand.

“There has always been dysentery in Egypt, but methods adopted by combatant and medical authorities have reduced its threat to a minimum. All drinking water is chlorinated. There is abundant ice, and bathing is forbidden in any water that is likely to be infected. There is also a tremendous difference between the. water-carrying equipment of the last war/and of this. Now, instead of carts, the men have ' water waggons after the style of petrol waggons to bring their water to them, and this ensures the purity of their drinking supplies. “Another factor which has prevented a certain type of case for medical officers, is that the Egyptian sun does not brown or burn to anything like the extent of the New Zealand sun. As a result there have been no cases of sunstroke. There have been a few of heat exhaustion, but that has generally been caused by the New Zealander’s enthusiasm for work. Give them a job to do and they go hard at it. They are great boys.”