PREVENTION OF GOITRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19125, 17 September 1925, Page 10

PREVENTION OF GOITRE.

USE Of lODISED SALT, SUCCESS IN OTHER COUNTRIES. MR. CARRICK ROBERTSON'S VIEWS The opinion that farther steps should bo taken for tha prevention and cure of goitre by the use of iodine was expressed last evening by Mr. Carrick Robertson. He commented upon a statement made by an officer of the Health Department on Monday to the effect that the necessity for supplying iodine artificially was not great where sea foods were available. " The medical officer begins by saying that, unlike Switzerland, there is not pressing need for an artificial supply of iodine in New Zealand as ■' we live for the most part in reach of the sea,' " said Mr.. Robertson. " Whether we live in reach of the sea or not, there is an average incidence oi goitre among the school children of Now Zealand as a whole of over 30 per cent. These figures are taken from the Public Health Department's own statistics and should surely be large enough to show the necessity for action. " The medical officer also takes exception to the iodising of salt on the grounds: (1) That some people cannot stand iodine and (2) the difficulty of mixing the iodine with the salt in an even and permanent way. As regards the difficulty of those with an iodine idiosyncrasy, we have yet to hear of anybody who can exhibit symptoms of iodism fronj such a minute quantity as it is proposed to put in the salt. If it were possible, all I can say is that these people with iodine idiosyncrasy are preserving a heroic silence in the countries where iodised salt has been used ' for the last three years. If the salt is iodised here, the public will consume something like a quarter of a grain of iodine per annum, whereas 20 grains are given in certain cases in a single day." Regarding the second exception, Mr. Robertson said he could only say that the results in certain parts of Switzerland and America had been so striking that it looked as if the difficulty of mixing the salt and iodine had been overcome, for the salt had stood the test of time, "It would appear from the health officer's statement that the Health Department, in giving iodised chocolates to school children with goitre, felt that it had done all. that was required. Surely the function of the Health Department is the prevention of disease and not the treatment. The weight of medical opinion in this country, as evidenced by the resolution passed at the last big meeting in Auckland of the 8.M.A., is that if the salt of this country is iodised with what might be called a fantastically minute dose of iodine, goitre could not occur in anything like the percentage seen at present. It is also to be remembered that once a goitre has appeared in a child there are a few cases which even iodised chocolates will not cure." Mr. Robertsom said that in a letter received from the acting-Director-Genera] of Health it would appear that the Health Department was about to take steps to have the salt iodised. If the public could be aroused and interested in the question he felt that this would greatly hasten the introduction of the measure, OASES AMONG CHILDREN. SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT. In speaking at the meeting of the Auckland Education Board yesterday, Dr. A. G. Paterson, director of the division of school hygiene, said that roughly about 7000 children were now being treated for goitre, and she had never found one child who seemed to be unfavourably affected by iodine treatment. * There were quite definite endemic areas for goitre in the Auckland Province, but the position, particularly in the North, was better than in Canterbury.