CRIPPLED CHILDREN SOCIETY

Evening Star, Issue 22630, 23 April 1937, Page 14

CRIPPLED CHILDREN SOCIETY

'SPLENDID WORK BEING DONE When the New Zealand Crippled Children Society was launched under the auspices of Rotary about two years ago, the need for its services, while urgent enough, was not so great as it has subsequently become. The circumstance of the infantile paralysis epidemic has increased the work and the responsibility of the society tremendously, and those large-hearted men and women who control its affairs are kept busy with ■ their humanitarian efforts. , . , , Nevertheless, the existence ot this society and the nature of its work arc facts that should be more widely known than, possibly, they are, so a few details concerning the Dunedin . branch should be of interest. Of the large number of crippled children whose cases have been handled bv the society here, 23 arc still inpatients at the Duiicdin Public Hospital, while between 20 and 30 attend daily as out-patients. All these receive close attention and skilled treatment, while several little patients have also been sent to Central Otago or some other suitable locality to convalesce or to receive special sunshine and freshair treatment. The transport, as well as the general arrangements in all these cases, is made by. the Crippled Children Society. An excellent method of treatmentone of the many used—consists of bathing and under-water exercises, and this is carried out both at the Hospital and at the Municipal Baths. Help of other kinds is given these afflicted young people, the whole aim of the society being to restore them to health so that they may eventually be fit to take their places in the active life of the community, vocational guidance being an important factor in the process. In all this splendid work the society has the hearty co-operation of the Otago Hospital Board, the hospital stair, and the medical profession generally, all of whom act in. complete harmony with the society in a united endeavour to succour the little ones.

, It is obvious, therefore, that the Crippled Children Society is an organisation that may bo recommended to the public for its support. The executive members of the Dunedin branch desire that the nature of the work in which the society is engaged should be more widely known, so that interest and sympathy of the general public as a whole might be enlisted. To this end, an open invitation is extended to citizens to attend the annual meeting of the branch, which will be held in the Town Hall Council Chambers oh Thursday next. '