Medical Conference In London

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30480, 30 June 1964, Page 1

Medical Conference In London

Most medical associations in the Commonwealth were already independent from the British Medical Association, and New Zealand was likely to follow within the next few years. But Commonwealth links in medicine were of great value and must be retained, said Dr. J. R. Dawson, immediate past chairman of the council of the New Zealand branch of the 8.M.A., yesterday. Dr. Dawson has just returned from representing the branch at a meeting of the council of the Commonwealth Medical Association in London. The object of the Commonwealth association. Dr. Dawson said, was to promote the knowledge and ideals of Western medicine in all Com-

monwealth countries. In some of the developing nations, Western medicine was still faced with the problem of practitioners in unscientific primitive medicine systems. Ceylon, for example, had four separate system of this kind, and three-quarters of the population consulted practitioners of these systems. An ethical problem arose for a Western-trained doctor when a practitioner of one of the “black-magic” systems asked for help with a patient. The Western-trained doctor could not leave the patient to his fate, but must not let himself be put into the position of sheltering an untrained person claiming to be a doctor. The eventual answer to problems of this kind, said Dr. Dawson, was improved medical education, and improved availability of medical education. New Schools

In India, for instance, about 50 new medical schools had been started since independence. Although the standard in these schools was not, in general, up to that of the schools of the West, there was constant improvement

which should result eventually in parity with those schools. In the meantime, the graduates of the Indian schools were doing great work in improving the overall very low standard of medical care in their country. The member countries represented at the conference, besides New Zealand and the United Kingdom, were Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Malaysia, Ghana, Australia—and Ireland and South Africa, which, although not members of the Commonwealth, had joined the association. Canada, though not a member of the association, was represented by an observer. Sir Arthur Porritt, a New Zealander working in London, presided. While in London, Dr. Dawson called at the head office of the Medical Protection Society, of which he is a vicepresident. In Hawaii, Dr. Dawson made a visit in connexion with another vice-presidency he holds—that of the Rotary club of Riccarton. He spent a day with members of the Rotary Club of Kona, Hawaii, which has been paired with

the Riccarton club by Rotary International. At Kona, the western area of the island of Hawaii, Dr. Dawson saw Captain Cook’s memorial and the place where he was murdered. Two months ago the people of Kona held the first festival of what is intended to be an annual series in honour of the captain.