RADIUM AS CANCER CURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 9

RADIUM AS CANCER CURE.

APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT.

[BT TELEOEiPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CnniBTCHURCH. Friday. When- Di. Diamond, of Christchurch, was in London he gave special attention to the treatment of cancer, and this brought him into touch with the Radium Institute where, he stated in an interview, wonderfully good work was being done in regard to that disease and others. The demands on the institute were heavy and the work had to be conducted in relays, and went on practically throughout the whole 24 hours.

It war. now recognised that in many cases the radium treatment was absolutely necessary. He did not stay in London sufficiently long to trace the progress of the cases, many of which occupied much time, but he saw some patients who had been treated before his visit and others who were being treated while he was there, and he was impressed Wiih the fact that radium would prove to be a great boon to the human race. He was so convinced that the radium I treatment had a great future that he felt it was desirable to establish an institute in New Zealand. The project should bo taken in hand by the Government, for it would be too expensive For an individual or a local body. In London, for instance, he had seen a patient, with a tube of radium worth £5000 in a tumour. Besides that, special appliances and special men were required, as the treatment demanded much study before it could be mastered.

Dr. Diamond felt that the Government should establish an institute in the Dominion and engage an experienced staff, and there treatment could be given to patients from all parts of the country. It was a question that was well worthy of the consideration of tho Government, and he hoped that in the interests of humanity something would be done before long.