IDEAL OF MEDICINE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 57, 8 March 1932, Page 8

IDEAL OF MEDICINE

MSEASE PREVENTION

&M.A. CONFERENCE OPENS

■PRESIDENT'S. ADDKESS

(By telegraph.)

(Special to "The Evening, Post.")

AUCKLAND TMs Day.

'The annual conference of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical 'Association was. opened.last night when a large number of doctors and their wives assembled. .

Medical men were . present from all •parts of New Zealand. Mr. Casement G. Aickin, of Auckland, was formally inducted as president of the New Zealand branch of the "association for the ensuing year. The ratiring president as Dr. J. W. Williams, of Gisborne. In speaking to the subject of "A Centennial Ketrospeet," Mr. Aickin said that this year the medical profession would celebrate the centenary of ithe founding of the British Medical Association. "In- tracing the. influences that have made the past century such wonderful years of progress, we £hd that in the generations preceding it.two names in particular stand out, those of William Harvey and. John Hunter, ' * stated Mr. Aickin. '' Harvey is ■immortalised by his discovery of the -^circulation of the>blood, and Hunter's ■work is the basis upon,which surgery Tvas made a real science." An epoch-making discovery was that of anaesthesia, and a great discovery which, coupled with anaesthesia had made the surgery of the present day . possible, was that of antisepsis. Opportunities afforded during operations to study disease in its earlier stages had enabled them to deal with disease when the prospects of cure were greatest. EADIUM TREATMENT. Mr. Aickin referred to the discovery of electricity, and its application to Xrays, and the discovery of Madame Curie's, in 1898, of radium. Of recent years surgeons had definitely abandoned; more than one operation in favour of treatment By radium. As yet, however, radium had definite.limitations and much work wouH need to be done and-the,results collated before the best irietliods of its application for evejy type of case could be established and its curative value accurately assessed. .Discoveries in. bacteriology had reyealedi matt as a prey to an infinite number of living organisms, and in 1882 Bobert Koch discovered. the ,/ tubercle bacillus. With a knowledge of the causes of infective diseases the methods .of combating them had ■ become more efficient. Specific remedies had been discovered for certain tropical diseases, and as a result the tropics had become ■habitable by Europeans. ■j THE GBOWTH OF SPECIALISM. "Knowledge regarding the disorders of the body has become so extensive, and the.technique for investigation and treatment so elaborate," said Mr. Aickin, ''that it is no longer possible for one man to be the master of all, and this- has led to the growth of specialism. The apparent danger in the practice of specialism is the fact that no true estimate of the patient's needs eari- be based on an examination limited in survey. Wide general knowledge must be the foundation .upon which successful work can be Wilt, and co-oper-ation among" medical men has become ■essential.a" 7>; ~-:. .. V " ■'.. : . The ideal of medicine is the pre- \ vention of disease, the necessity for curative treatment being really cvi- . dence of in this respect. '. ?: : DtJTY OF THE STATE. "More and more has the health of the people become the duty .of the State, and in the promotion of general social welfare it may be claimed that New Zealand stands in the forefront \nong the countries of the world."