REVIEW OF HEALTH

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 28, 2 August 1923, Page 10

REVIEW OF HEALTH

MPROVEMENT, RECORDED

DEPARTMENT'S ANNUAL REPORT

JKFANT MORTALITY FURTHER

REDUCED,

| S /Jftfrly general improvement in the ■health of the community, especially so Jar as infectious diseases'are concerned, recorded in the annual report of the "Department of Public Health for the lyear ended 31st March, 1923, which was 'presented to Parliament yesterday.

, The public health,, as shown by the leath- rate, staled-£he-.Director-General ff)r. ;T. H.; A." yalintine):in:"a general Buxvey of the Department's activities, could be regarded-as. generally satisfactory, wheii -viewed in relation to certain of the'fiibre serious notifiable 'diseases. The "standardised death rate had lallen from 10.93 per thousand to 10.70; These rates were markedly low, is was also the infantile mortality rate jf 41.9 per thousand births. The death rate of infants in the first month showed •little change^ and was still a matter for much ; concern. 'The population of New Zealand, however, had the greatest expectation of life" "of any "of the leading countries in the..world, and,..apart.from social and. economic factors, it was not unreasonable to assume that this 1 was in some- measure due to the. Department's ictivities. During the year the Dominion had been practically free from any of the outstanding outbreaks of disease. It was satisfactory to record a decline in the prevalence of scarlet fever, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, influenza, consumption, and pneumonia. The; death rate from tuberculosis of 6.5 per WOO of the mean population indicated a slight increased on last year's rate, 6.48.-There' was an obvious desire on the part of local authorities to remedy Wsitig conditions, which had been shown in last year's report to play an important part, in encouraging and disseminating Consumption.' —The Department.had been in close touch with the High' Commissioner in regard to the Spahlinger"t,rea'tmenf,' arid the 'result"of-the*^eseafWett^»S'r"'a'waited:~OTth'-tite-' greatest interest." JFhere was much difficulty in obtaining~an adequate supply of the -serum, and the medical profession of New Zealand'had had,^ractically no opportunity ftf/estinjating/'its value. p The .'death rate from puerperal septicaeitjja. had increased from 1.68 .per 1000 live-births to 1.79. "The .Department had--given-much alEentio'fl'_.tp_the question,Tofjnaternal deaths, arid-it was satisfactarjc.to report that-in the St.-Helens Hospital-ithere had been a fall from six deaths i-in 1921 per 1308 ..births, to three deaths in'l922 per 1470 bijjths. _A great 3eal, hovr£yer, remained to be done belore^this* mortality coulaTb'e reduced to a satisfactory Tninimum.—An.', *asneridment of the .'HS'spifel Acr\v'SrTSrgen%.needed to deaf with "unlicensed houses; and the providing of better accommodation in griyate maternity hospitals could not be too strongly impressed" upon those responsible. ■■-•[ lOi the" non-notifiable diseases cancer still claimed its high^ place in the mortality rate, accounting for" 1066 deaths, jnd giving.a'death.rate of 8.52 per 10,000 of persons living, in comparison with 8.53 for the previous year. Attention was also draw.n. to. the. low death rates from" the" "childhood" diseases—whoopingcough and measles. .DEPARTMENTAL FINANCE. Under the-heading, of finance, the report stated that, by the exercise of rigid economy expenditure had. been reduced during the year below the estimate. The iolicy of the" Department was to divest jtseliasfaras possible of the actual administrative, functions, of hospitals, ant! to devote Us energies, to its' more proper function • of" inspection.'' *It might bo asked whether, there was no."way of avoiding the heavy increasing capital expenditure. It was noted-that, exclusive of the 'small-' er cottage hospitals, tKo..figures for which might be misleading, the average day's stay in our institutions ranged from 19 to 40, in the majority-of cases being tvithin the vicinity of. 30. An average day's stay ,of 40 for any general hospital was absurd, and it was questionable ■whether the average could not be reduced to even less than 20 without detriment to the patients. VITAL STATISTICS. - 'A total of 29,006,.living'children;were registered in the Dominion during 1922, as... against 28,567 in 1921, and a yearly average of 27,223 durihgthepre-war per-iod.l9ia-14.. The birth rate for 1922 was 23.17 per 1000 of the mean population.' The number of births registered was the 6econd mighest ever recorded, but the rate was exceedingly low, being, with the ex-.) ception_bL'thaf of 1919, the lowest everExperienced. The rate of still-births was low, being 842, or 22.1 per 1000 live liiirths.'as. "against 903, or" 31.6 per 1000. in 1921. Deaths totalled 10.977, as against 10.682 in 1921, and a yearly average of 9370 in ,1910-14.. The Government StatistcSn gave;' the xriide death rate j for the year as 8.77 per 1000 of mean j population, and the standardised death rate was 10.7.... This .was extremely low,, approximating closely that of 1921, whicfh •*as the lowest on record. The infant mortality rate for the year was 41.9 per 1000 births, the lowest, on record.' tb* previous best being the figure for 1919—• 45.3 per. 1000 births. • Z "NOTIFIABLE DISEASES. ■> The year under review .was characterised by the relative'immunity of the-Do^ ijainion from grave outbreaks of disease. The most serious incident was a 'water-tjorne-epidemic, of. enteric fever in Mouot Albert, Auckland, duo to a breakdown of the .chlorinating process. A decline in the incidence of scarlet fever, diphtheria.. Whooping cough, and measles mado the period^lr6ni"'the'.point of view of public Eealth^a^highly. satisfactory one. . . . . * Scarlet vfeyer> notifications foe 1922 rpTealed^a.SaiEisf3ctory;jdecline a.s compared wth,l|i'£;pr.eviCiusVyear (1449 as against. 1845)',";Vhild'.-'tho-'death rate also showed ?j:stj.ikiiig decrease'(o.B'per 1000.of mean population aa'-against;-.19). While there had. beeri. a aubstaritiaV decline in diphtheria^iji.c&il9lß, thedisease still remaiingjl in thelDo'minion, amd ar more-«igorousSppTicat'i6ri"6f.l.th,R. mcl:hoil of active imli'um^atiorl'with'^toxin-a.n-ti-toxin mixtures'-Tnight be_'exp£cted-J'to fiuse a more rapid declirieviri'the disease, here were 1989 notincati6ns.(iijtitig';l92p as against 2611 in 1921, and the- deatji rate per 1000 of mean population wa^ .62 as compared with .87. The death rate per 1000". from enteric fever was .54 as against .19',irrth'B previous' year; the inl--<J-ease being caused by tho outbreak at Mount' Alberts 'The notifications of tuberculosis revealed a slight decline in comparison. AVith. the" preceding; -year," the fjgure3 being respectively 1129 and 1207. ■jhe death rato was exceptionally low, 6:56 per 10,000 of the mean population. '•• Tho venereal clinics established in the four, main centres in 1919, stated the report, continued to do good wort. ■-- »The.Director of Chile! Welfare (Di-Fi TrubyKing) recdrdrtd ift his report)" that the'JVeragpnnfajitilc'doath rate for J;h" c _ ■vrholo~~Dornin!on- had-bcen further ~riv' duced during, tho year fr0m.4.7 per 100. Tilrths f0r1921. to-just under' 4.2 percent: itesl922—the. lqYreat.pn record* ,