Maoris Warned To Report Sickness

Northern Advocate, 28 May 1940, Page 9

Maoris Warned To Report Sickness

The necessity of reporting immediately cases of sickness to the district health office was impressed upon parents and other natives at the conclusion of an inquest at Ngataki by the District Coroner (Mr A. H. Watt). The inquest concerned the death of Tare Waata. a Maori child aged seven, who died .at Ngataki on May 22, and after hearing evidence, which showed that no steps had been taken to summon medical aid, the coroner returned a verdict that death was due to heart complications following an acute attack of lobar pneumonia. After warning . parents, the coroner said that telephone facilities should be provided to enable the nurse to be communicated with at any time. At present there was sometimes difficulty in getting into touch with her and she had no telephone at either cf her stations at Te Kao or Te Hapua. If this facility could be provided so that notification of any sickness among natives could be reported to her valuable lives might be saved. Te Kuiti Cases. The hesitancy among Maoris in sending for medical aid in cases of sickness was also referred to by the Te Kuiti District Coroner (Mr R. M. Somerville) recently. On completing the second of two inquests concerning the deaths of Maori babies, which had shown that no attempt had been made to call in the district nurse or a doctor, he warned Maoris that if they continued to fail to secure medical aid in cases of illness, charges of a serious nature might be brought against those responsible.

If a doctor had been called there would have been a good chance of at least one of the babies being saved.