RACIAL HEALTH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 206, 31 August 1936, Page 8

RACIAL HEALTH.

PACIFIC CONGRESS. 1< SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS. A DOCTOR'S IMPRESSIONS. Three of the five New Zealand delegates to the second congress of the PanPacific Surgical Association, lield at Honolulu from August 0 to 14, returned to Auckland by the Niagara this morning, and they were all much impressed with the work that is being done in the cause of national health. The returning delegates were Dr. Frank Macky, of Auckland, Dr. A. A. Tennent, of Wellington, and Dr. E. D. G. Gillies, of Palmerston North. Dr. Hardie Neil, of Auckland, left the ship at Suva and is returning later, while the fifth delegate. Dr. W. Gilniour, pathologist at the Auckland Public Hospital, will arrive by the Monterey 011 Friday next. Dr. Macky mentioned that the original congress of the association was held seven years ago and it was intended tliat a congress would be held every three years. The second one was postponed owing to depression and other factors. It is an association of surgeons from all countries bordering on the Pacific and the second congress was attended •by about 150 delegates. Small delegations attended from Japan, China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The largest delegation came from the mainland States of U.S.A., from the west coast to New York and Virginia. "Honolulu lends itself admirably to the holding of such a gathering," said Dr. Macky. "It claims to be the crossroads of the Pacific and is richly supplied by both air and steamship services from the States and the Orient, and soon will have both services from the Antipodes as well. An extremely full programme was arranged on both the scientific and the social sides. The importance of the social side was fully emphasised, as it was felt that personal contact of delegates from such diverse sources, from countries which sometimes readily misunderstood each other, could produce nothing but good for all concerned."

Special Dominion Conditions. Many features of the congress were of outstanding interest, he added. Certain features in the life of the community were leading to the development of special medical and surgical problems and the development of specialists to cope with these problems. The very high incidence in the States of motor and industrial accidents had led to widespread development of the emergency hospital and the training of a staff devoted solely to emergency surgery, said Dr. Macky, in discussing a subject which is of considerable . moment in the Dominion; The subject was prominent at the congress and produced some papers of outstanding interest followed •by keen discussion. The work of repair and skin graft was still developing, and frequent reference was made to the pioneer work of two New Zealanders in this sphere. Sir Harvey Gillies, now in London, and Dr. H. Pickerill, of Wellington.

"Many of the outstanding contributions at the congress were made by members of the teaching staffs of some of the best-known American colleges and clinics. A striking feature is the fact that these men are busy operating surgeons and highly progressive research workers at the same time," stated Dr. Mackv. "The great help to the standard of the profession in any community afforded by the presence of a teaching faculty is clearly demonstrated. Many excellent exhibits were staged, illustrating by specimens, X-ray preparations, plaster casts and other methods, phases of their research activities. The standard of craftsmanship in the exhibits was uniformly extremely high. The moving picture was largely used for illustration and a remarkable film came from one of the famous Japanese investigators—Saito—illustrating factors in blood circulation and effectiveness of digestion in the living subject."