‘Mystique’ must be broken down

Press, 25 August 1980, Page 23

‘Mystique’ must be broken down

The mystique surrounding medicine must be broken down, said the head of Otago University’s economics department (Professor M. H. Cooper) at a meeting of the New Zealand Proprietary Medicines Foundation, held in Auckland recently. Professor Cooper said that one way of breaking down the mystique was" to mount a big health-educa-tion programme in schools, culminating in an examination. This was the “only way” New Zealand would ever win the battle against rising health costs. It was inconsistent with a' highly educated country that it had to run crash courses in first aid, he said. “It should be able to produce schoolchildren who know what to do in an emergency. What we

want in schools is not 20 minutes of sex education but a full syllabus in health education.” Professor Cooper said that recent surveys suggested New Zealanders made far less use of selftreatment with over-the-counter medicines than their overseas counterparts. “Future improvements in health depend largely on what people do for themselves. Health is everyone’s business, but most especially one’s own,” he said. “Schools should teach a better understanding of the body and what can go wrong with it. If people are concerned about treating themselves, it is largely because they do not know enough to recognise minor ailments.”