ERADICATION OF BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22698, 24 July 1948, Page 4

ERADICATION OF BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS

r SpiTE long and mainly harmonious debate on the Tuberculosis Bill is a heartening sign that New Zealand Members of Parliament are now giving this scourge the most serious attention. People who have followed the discussion will have adduced that, if the bill’s numerous provisions are acted upon with energy and an eye to practical results, there will be less need to fear the future. Mr. Algie uttered a timely warning when he stated that the measure created a machine, but that a machine could creak and groan and produce little. An earlier machine that produced little was the Act. placed on the Statute Book to eradicate bovine tuberculosis. In saying that a possible cause of trouble was infected milk. Mr. Broadfoot touched on this point, which, in actual fact, was worthy of more concentrated attention. The member for Wait onto pressed for close co-operation bet ween the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture regarding the elimination of tubercular cows. A niggardly attitude, he said, had been adopted in the methods taken to compensate farmers for animals which had to be destroyed. According to Dr. A. S. Moody, chairman of the Otago Hospital Board, the Department of Agriculture is not allowed to pursue its tests and cull all the infected animals. The portion of bis statement which urges reasonable compensation for the owners of such animals corroborates the remarks of Mr. Broadfoot. If this is the true position, then one of the first moves made should be strict implementation of the Act to eradicate bovine tuberculosis- This would be a policy which does not involve the building of expensive new hospitals or sanatoria at a time when the essential materials are in short supply, and it would ease the pressure on future institutional accommodation. Combined with the measures suggested in the new bill, a full-blooded attack on bovine tuberculosis would complete thc comprchcnsive programme that is so urgently needed.