Evening Post. THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1917. ARMY MEDICAL RETURNS

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 40, 16 August 1917, Page 6

Evening Post. THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1917. ARMY MEDICAL RETURNS

Two very valuable returns have been submitted' to Parliament dealing with the medical examination of men called up in i the ballots and the health of the men in our training camps. Both returns having been unasked for, they show that the Medical Branch of the New Zealand Army is not only keenly alive to its responsibilities in superintending the health of the men who go into camp, but is also taking full advantage of the opportunity presented in. compiling information which must be of the utmost importance to the future of the nation. The medical examinations return, in particular, warrants the most careful study. In a wealth of figures it supplies the fullest details of the causes for which men Lave been medically rejected, giving "them by grand totals for the whole of the Dominion, as well as by districts, trades, and professions. As a reflex of the physical condition of the flower of New Zealand's manhood the return, of course, is not a true one, and does not pretend to be; it excludes some 50,000 men who under the voluntary system were previously passed as fit into the ranks of the New Zealand Army. But that by no means robs the return of its real worth, which is contained in the statistics giving the causes of medical rejection. If the physique of the race as a whole is to be substantially improved, these are the figures with which our medical'men, legislators, and publicists must be most deeply concerned. They speak eloquently in many respects.. Taking " the white I plague " as a cause for the medical disqualification of our men of military age, we find that out o vf 25,197 men rejected a total of 624 were turned down for tubercular of the lung alone, of whom 152 were fanners, 82 were clerks, and 66 were general labourers. Why the seemingly high proportion among the farmers? It is, however, when we examine the position in regard to the military districts that w*e are given cause for the most searching enquiry. The number of cases in which men were rejected in the several military districts for tubercular of the lung were as follow:—Auckland 48, Wellington 353, Canterbury 146, Otago 77. What are the reasons for the exceptionally high proportion of cases in the Wellington Military District? Nearly 60 per cent, of the total for the whole Dominion ! Again, when we-come to rejections for, goitre, ■ we discover that of a total of 343 men pronounced medically unfit from this cause, only 13 were in the Auckland district and 35 in the Wellington district, while Canterbury district had no fewer than 229 and Otago 66! Is there anything wrong with. Canterbury's ■vrateL' supply ? Turning to sexual diseases, most people will be surprised to find the numbers remarkably small. Out of a total of 40,773 men examined only 97 were rejected on account of syphilis and 52 for other venereal complaints. That is distinctly gratifying, though the figures should be smaller still; but, again, there is cause for astonishment when it is seen that one district strikingly heads the list for the prevalence of "the red plague." For syphilis 10 men were rejected in the Auckland district, 23 in the Wellington district, and 19 in the Otago district, while CanterIsury had no fewer than 45. Further, out of 52 rejections for other forma of j venereal disease, Canterbury had a total of 31! These all present cases for thorough investigation, but they are not isolated instances. Equal cause for enquiry is given under many other heads. In cases of heart troubles, for instance, the%ig total of 2976 men were found suffering from valvular disease, while an additional 1212 men were rendered unfit by other diseases of the same organ. The return, it will bo seen from the few examples we havegiven, is one that must command the most serious attention, and we express the hope that it will be kept, up to date, and will receive the immediate attention of the Minister of Public Health and his Department. Nor can welet the occasion pass without congratulating Surgeon-General Henderson on its-' preparation, in which lie has rendered valuable service.

The second report, regarding the* .(health-of'the men in-camp, if it does not call for so much attention, is still more gratifying. It discloses an achievement' with which Surgeon-General Henderson .and his stuff have--good 'reason.,•.tQ-rta;

satisfied, and the country equally so. The figures demonstrate that the New Zealand training camps, thanks to the excellent medical organisation, now rank among the healthiest in the world, if, indeed, they do not occupy tho highest place. It is also worthy of remark that the two returns presented to Parliament are the first of the kind that have yet been supplied in any country during the