WITH WHICH ABE IHCOBPOEifED Ctje ftibo. | —. THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1923. THE PEOPLE'S HEALTH.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1923, Page 4

WITH WHICH ABE IHCOBPOEifED Ctje ftibo. | —.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1923. THE PEOPLE'S HEALTH.

I for the win that lack* asrietantm. For the wrong that need* retiatanee, For the future in the distance. And the good that toe can do.

The annual report issued by the Health Department on the health of the people is always, in the main, a satisfactory document. The death-rate in the Dominion is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the world, and the Department can point to -very definite achievements in the twenty odd years eince it was established to safeguard the public health. The standardised death-rate last year, 10.7 per thousand, was the lowest for more than a decade. The improvement in sanitation has resulted in a decline in fever diseases. The epidemic of typhoid at Mount Albert stood out •II the more starkly because of the rarity of such visitations in these times. Yet local bodies should remember that eternal vigilance is the price of safety. Their first duty is to keep their districts clean, and any avoidable delay in takingthe necessary measures for good sanitation places a heavy responsibility upon them. iLast year the Department noted that the death-rate from consumption was the second lowest on record. This year a slight increase is reported. Now that so much is known about this disease there should be a steady decrease in the deaths from it, especially in a country like this, where the conditions of living are generally so good and there is so much sunshine. Overcrowding has no doubt something to do with the present , •figures for New Zealand. Last year the I Department drew attention to the results of the Board of Trade's inquiry in 1919, when it was computed that 13) per cent of the people were living in "crowded conditions." Cancer is a more serious problem; the disease accounted for 1000 deaths last year. We cannot hope to rival the great centres of the world in research for the cause and cure of cancer, but we can co-operate in the great Empire-wide campaign that is now 'being launched. The low rate of infantile mortality, ' 42 per thousand, is something of which New Zealand may well be proud. When the Health Department was founded it was 75. It should, be noted, however, that according to the report" the death- ' rate of infants in the first month "shows very little change, and is still a matter of much concern." The first year of life is the meet dangerous, and of that year the first month is the worst period. Dr. Truby King says that about 30,000 babies are born annually in New Zealand, that of these about 1500 die in the first year, and that of these 1500 nearly 1000 die in the first month. All this reinforces the case for the. admirable work that Dr. Truby King and the Plunket Society are doing, and 'is especially appropriate just now, when the appeal for money for the local Karitane Hospital is before the -public. A grave question connected with this is that of maternal mortality. .Last year there were 52 deaths from puerperal septicaemia, or four more than the year before. The Year Book shows that there has been an increase in the death-rate from puerperal causes, and that the average rate for the Dominion is somewhat '-higher than the rates for Australia and England and Wales. It Is not surprising, therefore, that the Department should be seeking to raise the standard of competence among midwives and to improve the accommodation in private maternity hospitals. i