AUSTRALASIAN MEDICAL CONGRESS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20006, 25 January 1927, Page 9

AUSTRALASIAN MEDICAL CONGRESS.

TO BE HELD IN DUNEDIN. OPENS THURSDAY WEEK. / AN IMPORTANT GATHERING, Thursday of next week will see the opening in Dunedin of the Australasian Medical Congress ;B.M.A.)—the largest meeting of the medical profession that has ever oeen held in the Doirinion. The present congress has a membership of approximately 400, and as many members are accompanied by their wives and daughters fully 600 visitors are expected during congress week. Dr 11. Cooper Pattin, of Norwich, io' merly president of th© Society of Medical Officers of Health, will he the delegate from England; and there will also be delegates from South Africa, Samoa, and America. Australia will be largely represented, the visitors including Dr S. S. Argyle, Minister of Public Health, Victoria; Majorgeneral G. W. Barker, Director-general of the Army Services of Australia; Surgeoncaptain C. A. Gayre-Phipps, Director of Naval Services; Dr F. A. Pockley. a former president of the Australasian Congress ; Professor Basil Kilvington Professor of Surgery, Melbourne; and Professor J C. Windeyer, Professor of Obstetrics. In addition, there will be a large representation from the medical fraternity in the Dominion. The congress, which is now under the aegis of the British Medical Association, occupies the place formerly held by the Intercolonial Medical Congress. The last meeting of the latter bod” to be held in Dunedin was in 1895, and several Australian medical men who participated then will again be present. There has been only one meeting of congress in the Dominion since 1896, when, in 1914, Auckland undertook the responsibility with groat success. As these meetings of congress are only triennial, and as New Zealand takes its turn with the various States of Australia, it is unlikely that there will be another meeting of this nature in. the Dominion for the next 15 or 20 years. At the ordinary annual meetings of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association, a certain amount of time has to be devoted always purely to business and administrative matters, but at these Australasian Medical Congresses the matters discussed are purely professional and scientific. Naturally, there are many points of contact between the profession and the public—ye-g-,, in the prevention of disease, in diet, in health administration. etc., and these aspects are placed in the forefront throughout the various meetings. S* THE FORMAL OPENING. The congress will be formally opened on Thursday night, February 3, in the Early Settlers’ Hall, when the retiring president (Sir George Syme), of Melbourne, will install the new president, Dr L. E. Barnett, C.M.G., of Dunedin, who will then deliver his inaugural address. The Hon. W. Downie Stewart will be present, and will speak. The Minister of Health (Mr J. A. Young) will also attend and speak. It is hoped the Hon. A. D. M'Leod will also be present. After the ceremony Dr and Mrs Barnett will hold a reception in the Art Gallery Hall adjacent., DETAILS OF MEETING PLACES. The meetings of congress will be held in the new portion of the Medical School in King street, where members will be able to register from Thursday, the opening day. Some of the larger meetings will be held in the Octagon Hall, Allen Hall of the University, and Burns Hall. In the last will be given a popular lecture or. Saturday night (February 5), by Dr P. Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa), on “The Coming of the Maori.” Allen Hall will be occupied on the Friday evening (February 4) by a large meeting of members to discuss “The Relationship Between the State, the Hospitals, and the Practitioners.” The regular work of congress is divided among 12 sections. In many instances two or more sections will meet together to discuss matters of interest common to both. At other meetings sections will meet separately to discuss in detail their own particular problems. A HEAVY PROGRAMME. In a congress of this nature, especially where the work is so divided, the programme is a lengthy document—indeed, it will occupy about 50 pages of the Official Handbook, which is now almost completed. It .is, therefore, obviously impossible to do more than indicate the general nature of the subjects to be discussed. THE SOCIAL SIDE. Numerous and varied social entertainments have been arranged. Garden parties will be given on Saturday and” Tuesday afternoons by Mr T. K. Sidey, IVi.P., Chancellor of the Otago University, and Sir John Roberts, C M.G., respectively, and there will be excursions to Waipori whore lunch is to be provided by the Mayor and City Council of Dunedin; to Waitati, to Warrington, to Mosgiel, to Glenfalloch, N.E. Harbour, etc., etc., and a cabaret .party for the whole of the visitors will be given at the Savoy on the night of Wednesday, February 9 Perhaps most important of all will be the separate dinners of sections and numerous private functions where medical men can meet together in friendly converse to exchange opinions and experiences This is especially useful at a congress where men will meet from all parts of Australia and New Zealand, and- even from more distant parts such as Great Britain, Samoa, South Africa and America. THE SCIENTIFIC WORK. There are to bo four full days of session —Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (February 4,7, 8, and 9). According to the usual plan, the con* gress is divided into 12 sections—medicine, surgery, pathology and so forth —each of which has its own programme. In many instances, tivo or more sections will combine to discuss different aspects of problems of interest to each of them. The sections will bo as follow; — 1. Medicine. 2. Surgery. 3 Obstetrics and gynaecology. 4. Pathlogy and bacteriology. 5. Preventive medicine. 6. Ophthalmology. 7. Otology, phinology, and laryngology 8. Neurology and psychiatry. 9. Pediatrics. 10. Naval and military. 11. Orthopaedics. 12. Radiology. The following are the principal subjects upon which papers are to be read: GOITRE. This is a subject of paramount importance in New Zealand and of considerable interest in many parts of Australia. The profession in New Zealand have sufficient experience to speak with authority on this topic. On the first morning of congress there will be a large meeting of several sections in which preventive work, largely devised in New Zealand, will be presented, together with original observations on the pathology and treatment. In the afternoon of this day different aspects of the same subject are to bo discussed in the sections. HYDATID DISEASE. This is - the great disease communicable from animals to man, which is prevalent in all sheep-raising countries, and consequently of great importa ice throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is to come before several sections. DISEASES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. There are several important meetings in the sections concerned, and among the speakers are the professor of gynaecology in the University of Sydney, the _ Director of Research in the State of Victoria, and a distinguished gynaecologist from Christchurch. _ «. The subjects include puerperal sepsis, difficult labour, the prevention of disease in infancy and childhood, and tuberculosis in children. SURGERY. Special attention is given to surgery of the alimentary and gento urinary tracts. DIET. This subject comes before a combined meeting, and will include information about the diet of primitive peoples in the Pacific. NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY. Tire subjects in this section are largely of sociological intereet, such as the care of mental defectives and the causes and treatment of mental disease, especially in its minor grades—those most frequently met with.

SPASTIC PARALYSIS. The study and treatment of this con* dition were brilliantly expounded at the last congress by the late Professor John Hunter, of Sydney, whose early death is still deplored. The practical developments of his work will again be set forth and discussed by the orthopaedic and other sections. CANCER AND TROPICAL DISEASES, Cancer is to be given special consideration, and also the sections dealing with diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat, to which some distinguished American surgeons will contribute. ORTHOPAEDIC SECTION. The naval and military sections will combine to discuss the application of lessons of orthopaedic surgery, learnt in the war, and the problem of the cripple in industry. The naval and military section will also conduct a staff ride. An important meeting of all sections will discuss the relations between the State, the hospitals, and the medical practitioner in the prevention of disease. It will be seen that large emphasis is to be laid throughout the congress on preventive medicine. At the Dunedin Hospital, by kind permission of the Otago Hospital Board, demonstrations will be given at 8 a.m. on each of the days of the session before the sectional meetings. As far as possible these demonstrations will relate to the subjects to be discussed during the day. USE OF THE KINEMATOGRAPH. A feature of the congress will be the extensive use made of the kinematograph to illustrate the papers. Several meetings of large groups of sections will be held in the Octagon Hall, and three kiaematographs will be operated in various rooms devoted to sectional meetings at the Medical School. MUSEUM EXHIBITS, Two museums will be open throughout the congress. In the . pathological museum an important exhibit will be a valuable series of ophthalmic drawings sent from London. There will also be specimens of technical interest from all the centres. There will also be the unusual feature of a museum of preventive medicine, containing, among other things, statistical data of disease in New Zealand, an exhibition of hydatid specimens, and a relief map of New Zealand, showing the “goitre areas” and the relation to geological formation. No pains are being spared to render this important meeting worthy of the Australasian Congress of the medical profession in New Zealand, and of the Otago Medical School.