THE WHITE PLAGUE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16568, 4 June 1914, Page 6

THE WHITE PLAGUE.

Tub opening of the Coronation Hospital for Consumptives is an event important not only because of the humane work-that the institution will do, but also because it directs attention once more to the magnificent campaign that is being undertaken for the elimination of tuberculosis. Public Health authorities in these days would treat with scorn the doctrine, at one time generally accepted, that.consump-. tion cannot be stamped out of a community. They have told us in season and out of season that the disease is preventable and although the authorities were, slow to respond to the agitation initiated by private individuals, we are thankful to say that now there is not a hospital board in the dominion that does not regard the prevention of the disease as one of its most important functions, while the Public Health Department has thrown itself heart and soul into the movement. It is interesting to recall that only a few years ago the rational treatment of consumptives in \his district was left to purely private enterprise. Nurse Maude, Dr Greenwood and Mr F. A. Hornibrook were, we believe, originally responsible for the organisation of the "camps" where patients were treated and instructed in the essential preventive measures, but the valuable pioneering work that these enthusiasts carried out is almost forgotten now. Tho greatest service that they rendered to the community was to stimulate its interest, with the result that an agitation was set on foot in Canterbury that ultimately influenced the whole country. The campaign is not yet complete, of course, as the provision made for the treatment of patients is already proving inadequate, but the most important steps have been taken and tho extension of the buildings, or, hotter still, the erection of new buildings in more suitable localities, will follow when the funds are available. In tho meantime tho hospital opened yesterday will allow of the proper treatment of cases not adapted for the main building, and as the good work proceeds we shall expect to find the demands upon the two institutions decreasing. Then, at least, is the prospect held out by tho experts, though tho complete elimination of the disease cannot be looked for by the present generation.