FEWER DEATHS

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 December 1945, Page 7

FEWER DEATHS

INCIDENCE OF T.B. “Tuberculosis has shown a falling death rate over recent years in New Zealand, as in most other countries,’ said Dr. C. A. Taylor, Director of the Division of Tuberculosis in the Department of Health. an interview. It was felt, however, be added, that the incidence of the disease in the Dominion had not been properly determined, and therefore the clinic service, which had originally 7 been conceived and established by the Dunedin Hospital in 1914, had been extended throughout New Zealand. An interesting comparison was made by Dr. Taylor between the tuberculosis death rate at the end of the 19.14-18 war and the figures at present. During the period from 1919 to 1921 the annual death rate from tuberculosis was approximately 7 j 6.5 per 10,000 persons, and by T 1944 it, had dropped to 3.81. In 1943 the figure was 3.72, and. in 1942 it was 3.93. A still greater improvement could be achieved, he said, by 7 finding the cases early 7 and placing them under treatment. Tuberculosis affected largely those people who were in the most productive period of life. The method of treatment now adopted was to find the cases as early as possible through the clinic service and the case-finding scheme operated by district nurses in co-operation with the hospital clinics. The cases were then classified, and once the active spreaders of the disease were found they were taught in the course of a stay in a hospital or sanatorium not only how to get themselves better but also how to prevent the spread of infection to others. When they returned home, they 7 were visited periodically by the district nurses, who saw that they carried out their instructions. It was hoped by this means to reduce very considerably the risk of infection. SHORTAGE OF NURSES. “Grave concern is felt throughout New Zealand at the shortage of nursing staffs for general cases, and particularly for tuberculosis cases,” said Dr. Taylor. Among the many factors which had contributed to the position was the increased hospitalisation, and it was now found that there vzere not enough young women coming forward to undertake nursing work. The shortage was not so acute locally, however, as it was in other centres. The demands of the services and of essential industry had been responsible for the smaller number of nursing recruits, said Dr. Taylor. Some of the women who had been in the forces were now turning to nursing as a career, but the tendency was for such women to go into industry. Where at one time there were waiting lists of girls anxious to begin their training, these did not now exist, except in the case of one or two hospitals.

The tuberculosis institutions particularly were experiencing sferious ■difficulty, said Dr. Jay lor. The reason might possibly be due to a misconception in the minds of the public that nursing tuberculosis patients even, in a well-run institution, was dangerous work. Actually, he pointed out, the records showed that over a period of years sanatoria were probably the safest places in which a girl could do nursing. The incidence of the disease among nurses had been greatly reduced by the present control system, and diagnosis in the earliest possible stages. The nurses were really better off in this respect than girls in various branches of industry. <• The need was so urgent, he added, that he appealed to air who could do so to offer themselves for training as nursing aids, more particularly for the nursing of young tuberculosis patients. Every safeguard was taken to reduce to a minimum the danger of contracting the disease, and the results had shown that the efforts in this direction had been very successful.

“Now that the war is over,” said Dr. Taylor, “it cannot be too strongly emphasised that there is still work of national importance waiting to be done in the nursing service.”