The N. Z. Times MONDAY, MAY 27, 1907. THE OTAKI SANATORIUM

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6219, 27 May 1907, Page 4

The N. Z. Times

MONDAY, MAY 27, 1907. THE OTAKI SANATORIUM

vzra niiCH is iroostoratsb tux “ wziaaaerov raroxrz*DHWT.“ EitisunsiD 1843.

Tho 24th of May seems this year to have been better observed as" Empire Day than ib has yet been sine© the death of the Queen with whoso memory the day is associated. IVo know of no function more befitting such a day than that which came off at Otaki, when the Minister of Public Health formally opened at that place a Sanatorium for Consumptives, an institution which would have commended itself to the sympathies of the benevolent Victoria. It was very fitting on that occasion, when the end was crowning tho work, that the pro. per meed of honour should have been paid to the two medical men. Dr Newman and Dr Valintine, to whom belongs tho credit of having initiated tho movement which has resulted in this good work achieved. Each doctor modestly and generously gave the lion’s share of the credit to tho other, but the general public will not forget tho praise that is duo to both. Of all tho fell diseases of which civilised man, by virtue oven of his civilisation, has become the victim, consumption is perhaps the greatest scourge. Other diseases, such as cancer, cholera, tho plague, by some striking characteristic or other—the painfulness of their symptoms, or the rapidity of their progress—have more impressed and appalled the public imagination; but it may safely bo said that for steady, unswerving, unrelaxing deadlinesa none can compare with consumption. Cholera and small-pox come arid go; they work their devastation and then disappear. But consumption we have always with us. It is one of those pestilences that walk’ by noonday, coming we know not whence, or why, or how; or, at least, we are only beginning to know. The attitude of past generations to this dread disease has been, if ono comes to think of it, almost as appalling as tho disease itself, reminding ono of the fatalist' attitude of tho benighted Bast, where, as wo are told, plague-stricken patients are “carried to the vicinity of the fire to await death.” Until recently the ‘Western attitude' towards consumption was little moro intelligent. The member of a family sank into a decline, to the sore affliction of'parents and relatives, hut the blow was accepted as if it were an inexorable decree of fate against which there was no use struggling, tho only thing left being to make tho span of ilife still -remaining to the patient as tolerable as circumstances permitted. If tho disease had been scarlet fever or smallpox everybody concerned would have shown the most obstinate fight, and contested the ground with the onemy inch by inch. But the measures taken against consumption were cither entirely wrong or merely palliative—a warm, stuffy room, an easy lounge, and the indispensable cod • liver oil. Within the last few years, however, science has changed all that. We know more about the disease than our grandfathers knew. We know that it is not so hopeless as they supposed, and also that it has dangers which they little suspected. Medical science assures us that one dreaded characteristic attributed to the disease—necessary transmission by heredity—does not exist in fact. On the other hand, that same science has made it clear that the disease may be communicated, though fortunately the means by which it spreads are of such a kind that ordinary precautions suffice effectually to prevent infection. The important thing is that tho old supine attitude towards consumption has been abandoned; and that an active aggressive system of warfare ■against the disease has boon adopted. Cleanliness, abundance of air and sunlight, simple nourishing food, warm clothing, and sufficient exorcise of a proper kind are the chief elements of the modern treatment, and attention to these conditions in the early stages may save many a life. But there are many poor people who cannot oomrpand these simple conditions. In a crowded household, where the cubic space is often too scant even for tho robust, how is it possible to secure that constant bath of fresh air necessary for the consumptive patient, who ought never to breathe air which has been breathed before by himself or anyone else; to say nothing of the difficulty of regulating tho diet, which it is not always possible, in a household of narrow means, to adapt to the needs of a consumptive patient. The Otaki Sanatorium will put proper treatment within the reach of a considerable number who would otherwise have had to fight tho disease under adverse conditions. This is a great deal, though it will not by any means entirely meet the needs of tho community. Suitable accommodation is nearly as much needed for those who can pay as for those who cannot. Even in families that are comfortably off it is almost impossible to treat a patient with that scrupulous attention to minute details of ventilation, diet, and exercise which his case demands. Fully to meet the case there ought to he provision for all classes of patients, those who cannot pay anything, those with moderate means,' and those able to meet tho whole coat of their treat, meat. In this connection also it is desirable to emphasise tho necessity for taking care that patients able to pay are not allowed to occupy room which should be reserved for those without means. Properly conducted, as there is every reason to' believo they will be, these sanatoriums will bo an untold blessing to the community; and not least of the blessings they will bring will bo the instruction of tho people as to tho real nature of consumption and tho most effectual means of battling with it.