NATION'S HEALTH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 56, 7 March 1934, Page 8

NATION'S HEALTH.

VITAL SOCIAL SERVICE. LABOUR'S POLICY OUTLINED. (By Telegraph.—Prrss Association.) TIMARU, this day. Mr. M. J. Savage, Leader of the Opposition, addressed a large audience here to-night and dealt with the Parliamentary machine, wage and salary reductions, home and foreign trade, banking and currency, marketing and guaranteed prices, and social services. He said it was necessary to have a completely co-ordinated national health service based upon universal insurance. To the matter of co-ordinating medical services the parent body, the British Medical Association, had given considerable attention, and, in a comprehensive report covering the whole question the medical, dental, nursing and kindred services, had provided an outline of a scheme that would be helpful in the development of a national health service. In a report to the International Labour Conference held at Geneva, in 1027, it was shown that 17 leading nations voted in favour of compulsory sickness insurance, while seven other nations voted in favour of a voluntary system. The present method of raising money for hospital upkeep was inequitable in its incidence, as a substantial sum had to be raised from the rates irrespective of the incomes of the ratepayers. A national health service, he said, should provide (1) full medical, dental, nursing and kindred services for all citizens; (2) a financial foundation for such a service based upon universal insurance; (3) payment for services rendered; (4) the training of students in all branches of a national health service.