OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27010, 9 April 1953, Page 10

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES

NOTIFICATION BY DOCTORS An extension of the list of diseases other than infectious diseases which are notifiable to the Department of Health has been authorised by the Minister of Health (Mr J. R. Marshall) and came into force recently. The extension has been made to allow the division of occupational health in the department more information on illnesses which in the opinion of general practitioners arise from the nature of the patient’s work. The Industrial Medical Officer of Health at Christchurch (Dr. A. Douglas) said yesterday that the list had been extended by eight conditions which might arise from a person’s occupation. They were skirj diseases, damaged eyesight, impaired hearing, poisoning from any insecticide, weedicide, fungicide, or other poison, diseases of the respiratory system, poisoning from any gas fumigant or refrigerant, poisoning from any solvent, and poisoning from any metals or salts of metals. A fee of 3s 6d would be paid to the practitioner for each notification.

There was already in Christchurch a voluntary arrangement between the department and the British Medical Association by which the medical practitioners of the area had been notifying those conditions, Dr. Douglas said. In the discussions with the 8.M.A., it had been agreed that if notification were' required by regulation the practitioners would be better safeguarded from any suggestion of breach of confidence. It was, he said, of immense help to the occupational health division to know what cases were arising and the size of the problem involved.