THE B.M.A.

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1922, Page 7

THE B.M.A.

OUTLINE OR ITS WORK

STABILITY AND VITALITY

CONFERENCE IN WELLINGTON

NEXT WEEK.

One hundred and seventy members of the medical profession will gather in Wellington on Monday next for the purpose of participating in the discussions at the annual conference of the British Medical Association. The conference will open in the Concert Chamber of the To\vb Hall on Monday evening with a reception to members by the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.), and the president (Dr. W. Young, of Wellington) will also deliver his presidential address. This will -be the first time for twelve years that the conference has been held locally. ■

In the Course of a conversation with a representative of Tb* Post, a prominent member~bf the medical profession referred to the important nature of the work being carried out by New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association. "The association," he said, "was established ninety years ago for the promotion of the medical and allied sciences, and the maintenance of the honour and interests of the medical profession. Its patron is His Majesty the King, and any medical practitioner registered in the United Kingdom or in the British Empire overseas is eligible as a member of the association. The number of members is steadily increasing and has mounted from SO to over 26,000, marshalled into ninety-two branches, and two hundred and eighty-one divisions. There is a New Zealand branch, and the latest tranches are in Fiji and Mesopotamia. The' association throughout the Empire has stability and vitality, mainly ac the result of „ a democratic . organisation proved by experience^ and capable of ■Variation and modification to suit special oircflmstanceJ. Each branch has local freedom and initiative, and the whole scheme of organisation reveal; vmiirvellous organising ability and statesmanship. PROMOTION OF THE SERVICES.

"The medical and allied sciences are promoted iii many vfays. Each division commonly meets once a month1 for discussion of new methods of treatment, for recording instructive cases, for the exhibition of specimens, and for the interchange of thought oil phases' of medical progress generally, and anything that is netf or helpful is added to the common store of'knowledge. The parent British Medical Journal; and such others a's the New Zealand Medical Journal are contemporary and trustworthy records of the progress that is being made in every branch of medical science arid issue reports of all congresses, conferences, and meetings of local societies of interest to members of the medical profession. Probably the largest .medical conference' ever held in New Zealand under, the auspices of the Medical Association meets for a week in Wellington, •beginning- on. 27, th February. Among the subjects for. discussion are some diseases of the stomach and cancer of the large intestine, alt common in '■ New Zealand, the! medical treatment of mentally' defective - children, and medical technique in the, attendance of confinement cases, and the subject of maternal mortality generally.

THE HONOUR OF THE PRO^

FESSION

"Another object of the association is the maintenance of'-the interests and honour of the medical profession. Each mernbe-r Of the association is compelled to maintai* a proper standard of ethical conduct, and this is to the advantage oi the public as well as the profession. Bacon wrote : 'I hole) every .man a debtor to Ms profession ; from the; which as men. of course do seek to irecovl| \ countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavour themselves by way of amends .to,be a'tji'elp aridi crna'tnetit thereto.' The pub'lie little kriOw of the temptations to wrong-doing >to which medical men a*e exposed, 'but it is rare indeed for a doctor to sell his honour.

"The British Medical Association, wields a great power, and there is no more beneficent institution. It, assists the Legislature both in England. and here in the'promotion of laws and regulations for the health of the- people. In the health ministries the- members of the B.M.A. are the first line* of defence against dis-' ease and pestilence. The members of the1 association bear practically the whole. burden of medical relief through every philanthropic institution throughout the Empire, and at their' .own expense of time, skill, money, and witßout financial reward. Although in New Zealand) We have not voluntary hospitals as in England, yet since the settlement of this Dominion, the member's of the Medical Association have done the lion's Bhare of the work of the public hospitals without remuneration, and have saved New Zealand millions of pounds. This tax, which the profession voluntarily incur-, red, has' now; become so heavy that it may be that soon the profession cannot afford to .continue in the same' way. I

NOT SEEKING PUBLICITY,

"If there is one thing above all others that is anathema to the British)' Medical Association, it is self-advertisement, and in a blatant -age any organisation that shuns publicity is liable either ta be forgotten or to be misrepresentedl. If publicity .is success-, the B.M.A. should) be judged! by other1 standards.- During the Great' War the association did not escape the limelight, and it was revealed that the B.M.A. raised the money for the first hospital in Ti'enfcham Camp, and,1 by great sacrifice, maintained » full ancti efficient medical service for the army in the field, the training camps, and the civilians at home, and the B.M.A. hadi the proud distinction of providing, in proportion to its nuittbers, more volunteers_ for active service than any other civilian organisation throughout the Eimpire." As stated above, the conference will open on Monday next, and it will continue until the following Saturday, when the annual meeting of thei New Zealand: Medical Insurance Society will .be held. Subjects for discussion during the conference include: *|Tho Medical Treatment of Certain Diseases of the Alimentary' Tract," "The Use- of Emulsion in Infant Feeding," "Maternal Mortality," "'Mental Defects Amongst School Children," "The Use of Hanmer to the General Practitioners," and "The Hospital Bill."