HOPEFUL VIEW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23053, 2 June 1938, Page 14

HOPEFUL VIEW

TUBERCULOSIS CASES ELIMINATION POSSIBLE MEDICAL MAN'S OPINION WORK FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN [by telegraph —OWN correspondent] CHRISTCHURCH. Wednesday Tuberculosis in New Zealand is a dying disease, and if the proper measures were taken it could be stamped out as a disease within two generations. Dr. J. Leslie Will expressed this opinion when he spoke of the treatment of crippled children at the annual meeting of the Sunlight League of New Zealand, j Dr. Will outlined the wcfrk being done to assist crippled children in the Dominion, and, when he touched on the question of tuberculosis, he said that the Sunlight League could be likened to a fence at the top of a cliff, because it played an important part in the work of prevention. . It was only in recent years that those people interested in the care of crippled children had become alive to the possibilities of indention, Dr. Will added. He referred to the organisation of the Crippled Children's Society, and said that a certain foundation was growing up, on which all work for the care of crippled children was based. Methods Outlined There were various aspects of the problem which had to be considered First was the discovery of the cripple, perhaps by means of a welfare officer. Three medical men decided the* treatment to be undertaken in each case. The treatment in this country was well organised and well carried out. It was important that follow-up work by a welfare officer and social visitors should be carried out after the child left the hospital. The education of the cripple in New Zealand was a vital necessity, and good work was being done by special schools, the ordinary public schools, and the Government correspondence school. Probably one pi the most difficult tasks undertaken was the provision of vocational training, Dr. Will proceeded. The experts had to overcome both physical and psychological disabilities in the children. Experts differed as to whether the children should be trained in a special institution for cripples or whether they should receive their training among the members of the community with whom they would have to work. / Could be Stamped Out The infectious diseases were the worst of those which caused paralysis. If the proper measures were carried out tuberculosis could be eliminated as a disease in two generations. If every case could be isolated from children, the disease could be stamped out. Education regarding the benefits of health camps would also assist. Emphasising the decline in the incidence of tuberculosis in the Dominion, Dr. Will contended that any proposal to erect an expensive institution for the purposes of treatment should receive very careful consideration before it was implemented. The ideals of peace and physical fitness were the watchwords of the Children's Sunlight League, said Miss Mary McLean. A full programme had been drawn up for the children for the coming year.