Public health campaign through pharmacies

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32637, 19 June 1971, Page 6

Public health campaign through pharmacies

Tuberculosis vaccinations now being carried out by the Department of Health are part of an extensive campaign to control the disease. Two new leaflets published by the department are desigped to dispel misconceptions and fears about the vaccination and the tuberculin test.

Both leaflets point out that New Zealanders are fortunate that the disease is less common in this country than many others, but emphasises the need for early detection and prevention. The leaflets are available free from Christchurch

pharmacies as part of a public health campaign being conducted by the Pharmaceutical Society and the Department of Health.

The campaign is now in its fourth month. About 350 pharmacists in New Zealand have installed display stands in their shops which contain six brochures on health subjects. Monthly changes Each month they receive different supplies of leaflets and brochures covering topics from slimming to venereal disease. Until this scheme was introduced, Health Department pamphlets and other informative health material was available to the public through concerned organisations or from the family doctor.

As well as the tuber-

culosis leaflets booklets available this month include “Strictly for Teenagers," (on alcoholism in New Zealand), “The Epileptic Needs Your Help,” “Food for Health," “Infective Hepatitis,” “Slimming,” “Venereal Diseases,” and “Tetanus.”

The department’s material on venereal disease, is informative and clearly written, emphasising the urgency of the need for detection and treatment without ■ being alarmist. The pamphlet was adapted from a publication prepared by Dr W. M. Platts and sponsored by Rotary. “Venereal disease is on the increase” is the headline on a display sheet. “More than half the cases treated at a

hospital clinic are under 20 years old,” it says. “Early symptoms, particularly in women, may be unnoticeable. Only medical examination and laboratory tests can identify infection. "Free advice and treatment are available at hospital clinics and private treatment from general practitioners. “Early treatment is imperative. Uncomplicated cases are curable.”

; “Tetanus is a deadly disease i that is hard to cure but easy i to prevent,” says Marjorie Le Marquand, of the Division of Public Health, in the departments pamphlet. She explains the disease, the way in which it is contracted (infection can occur in “those slight day-to-day injuries which seem so trivial at the time”), its symptoms, and the necessary treatment. Basic immunisation for schoolchildren and adults not already immunised is two or three injections—four to six weeks apart—and then one Injection six to 12 months later. A booster dose must follow—one every 10 years will help maintain the level of protection against tetanus infection.

The pamphlet also contains an immunisation programme for children to protect them against tetanus and other diseases. Slimming The department’s booklet on slimming has much sensible, down-to-earth advice for slimmers.

Daily diets are suggested—“you can slim on three good meals a day”—along with

i the foods to leave out. At the back there is a chart of the calorie value of some i commonly-used foods which I certainly provides some food for thought. About one third of pharm- : acists in New Zealand are participating in the public ; health scheme. If this pilot scheme is successful, as it has proved to be >at this point, the society hopes most pharmacies in the country will carry public health material.