PUBLIC HEALTH.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 68, 18 September 1906, Page 6

PUBLIC HEALTH.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DE- . PARTM-ENT. INTERESTING~~COMMENTS. NOTES ON VITAL STATISTICS. " I desire to say that the creation of tho Public Health Department by mo has more than justified its existence, and under the ablo guidance' of (<( < the Chief Health Officer, and his assistants, has completely changed for the better the public health conditions under which our colonists live." With these- preliminary words, Sir Joseph Ward submits to the Governor the 6isth annual report of the Public Health Department, which was laid on the table of the House this afternoon. The report prepared by Dr. Mason /Chief Health Officer) states that no serious epidemic of any kind prevailed • during the year, and the general health, from a preventive medicine point of view, wac good. Dr. Mason's scheme of medically inspecting school children is j set forth, together with the stntement that of 117,000 children attending the colony's elementary schools, only 27,327 live in the four- large centres, so that even if the children there were looked after a great number would etill go uninspected. WAR ON CONSUMPTION. Tho movement in tho direction of providing open-air treatment for consumptives is, states Dr. 'Mason, steadily progressing. Much has been done by several officers of the department to awaken the public to a realisation of the magnitude and power of the enemy, and many in authority had taken up the burden. Wellington, Taranaki, Nelson, Invercargill, and Waimate have already made provision for open-air treatment, and many other districts are at the parting of the ways. The indigent consumptive is now receiving more attention, and, remarks the Chief Medical Officer — "The necessity of having only sympathy to offer to the poor homeless seeker after health is, I urn truly thankful to say, getting less and less." Dr. Mason urges the importance of providing light employment for those pthisis patients who have sufficiently recovered to reenter the workday world. " As* it is now," he continues, "the man or woman who leaves a sanatorium, leaves comfort, liberal feedinsr, and all that makes for a healthful life to go back to a. close, possibly overcrowded room, poor food, andfwork indoors. That the disease re-curd,--that the patient fails and finally dies, is unf oi i anately sometimes the after-history of a person who left the institution ' improved.' The wealthy sufferer can alter hia whole mode of life — give up his work in the office for wprk on the farm. Something like this should be practicable for the poor mtn. 1 suggested that if private employeis would not help, the Government might bonable-to give work orr some of the State' farms or forest nurseries. Many a poor soul would be glad to do what work he could for the sake of his food and room to pitch his shelter, if he could get the' chance. I sincerely trust that some arrangement may be effected, either with the Lands or Forestry Department." MEDICINE FRAUDS. The Chief Medical Officer recapitulates the main points of his recent exposure of patent medicine frauds, and eipres.es his opinion that a law having for its object the suppression of harmful so-called remedies would be good. Ho points out fhat the man who has been swindled says nothing, so as to avoid looking foolish. "These people," he declares, "are people the State should step in. and guard. The monetary damage is often great, but not infrequently that is the least among many injuries done the poor dupe. In the case' of such diseases as consumption and cancer, the wily advertiser of a cure" steals not only the sufferer's money, but his only chance of - recovery. At a time when removal of ' the tumour "or a sojourn in a sanatorium might have effected a restoration to health, the poor victim is wasting his money and 'losing the tide. 1 " HEALTH OF THE MAORI. Dr. Pomare'a advocacy of a system of birth and death registration for the Maoris is endorsed by Dr. Mason, who states : — "The greatest blow will have been struck at tho mana of the tohunga when all deaths will requite to be certified to and registered. May I again recommend this matter for your consideration. I am not ceTtain whether the remarks of Dr Buck traverse paths which are forbidden, but I heartily concur in his description of the evils attendant upon the communal holding of land. Until every Maori realises that a particular patch is his and his alone, steady and consistent cultivation will never take place." VITAL STATISTICS. A satisfactory improvement in the birth-rate is the feature. of> the vital statistics. The births registered last year totalled 23,682, or 27.22 per thousand, an increase of 4.02 upon the previous year. The -rate was the highest since 1894. Analysing the proportion of births to marnageß, it is found that," regarded annually or decennially, there is a decided fall in the number of births per marriage. Last year's rate was 3.24. Compared with the rest of Australasia, New Zealand comes third fox highest birth-place, the figures being : West Australia), 30.30 par thousand; Tasmania. 29.32; New* Zealand, 27.22; New"- South Wales, 26.73; Victoria, 24.83; South Australia, 23.82; and Queensland (1904 figures only available), 27.12. There were 1082 illegitimate births -in New Zealand, the out* being about the same as for the urevious ten years. It is less than that of any of the Australian States, excepting South Australia and West Australia. Deaths numbered B^o6l last year, this being the lowest rate since 1887. The rate per thousand was 9.27, as against 9.57 dn the previous year. In this connection New; Zealand is in the happy, position of having the best record of any Australasian colony or European country. Figures for the four centres are as follows : — Auckland 12.15 (including suburban boroughs 10.52), Wellington 10.55 (10.21), Chrietchurch 10.76 (10.89), Dunedin 11.13 (10.12). Infant mortality in the centres was as follows : — Auckland ' 9.15 deaths per hundred births, Wellington 9.62, Christchurch 8.90; Dunedin 6.71. Dealing with causes of death, the report places tubercle in the first place, 211 deaths out of a total of 646 in the four centres being caused by phthisis or other tubercular disease. Cancer caused 191 deaths, a slight increase on the previous year and 8 per cent, of the total deathrate'for the whole colony. There were 139 violent deaths at the .chief centres, 109 being classed as accidental. One homicide, 28 suicides, and 16 deaths by , drowning are included in the larger total. Dr. Mason regards the proportion of violent deaths as large. The total for the whole colony wae 615. Of these, 69 wore males and 20 were females who committed suicide, and 126 males and 16 females who met their deaths by accidental drowning.

Biown. Sidoy, Mooch, and, ,Cs>. dm* property buyers attention tp ton building sitci at Brooklyn which thpy will toll by public auction at thpir rooms, Manners-street, on Friday) 21«t September, at 7.30 p.m. ," ' \" '