THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1933. THE PLUNKET SOCIETY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22125, 1 December 1933, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1933. THE PLUNKET SOCIETY

Time was, and not so long ago, when the Plunket Society was in a position comparable to that of one of the newcomers on life’s stage for the benefit of which its ministrations are so largely conducted. It had to fight a hard battle to secure a footing in the community, to overcome indifference and prejudice, and to compel the public to take it seriously. In those days the Society was more vocal than now, less perhaps by reason of the propensity of childhood than out of sheer necessity. For its mission was educative, and it came into the world with a gospel that required propounding from the housetops. Now after twenty-six years the Society is seen occupying a firmly established position, and enjoying the appreciation and recognition which it has won by its unremitting devotion to a most laudable cause. It has little need now to clamour for attention, for its activities may be said to be incorporated in

the national economy. The Society’s record is a proud one, whether regarded from the viewpoint of the organisation which it has built up, or in the more important aspect of the remarkable success which has attended its labours in promoting the health of women and children. Its name has become a household word throughout the length and breadth of the land, its authority in those matters in which it lends assistance and guidance is accepted without question, and for the services which it is able to render there is a remarkable demand, as is reflected in the fact that nearly 70 per cent, of the children born in the Dominion come under the supervision of the Plunket nurses who have been sent forth as missioners to all parts of the country. When the Society was founded the infantile death rate in the Dominion was 8.9 per cent. Last year the rate was only 3.1 per cent., the lowest level in New Zealand and the lowest in the woi’ld. Undoubtedly it is lai’gely to the extension of the Plunket system throughout the Dominion that this result is due. It is not to be regarded as a mere coincidence, moreover, that

in Dunedin, the original home of the Society, its headquarters, and the centre of its training activities, the infantile mortality rate is lower than in any of the other large urban areas.

These and other facts were dwelt on by the Mayor and other speakers at the annual meeting of the parent branch of the Society yesterday afternoon, and due recognition was made of the immense amount of work done without fee or reward by those who have controlled the Society’s affairs. As to the importance to the community of a vigorous continuance of the Society’s labours there can be no question. It was the opinion of the National Expenditure Commission that no good reason existed why a service so extensive should be provided by the Plunket Society on an entirely gratuitous basis, but it will hardly be disputed that the usefulness of this organisation has been largely built up on its policy of free service. A distinction not lacking in point was drawn by the Minister of Health when he described the Plunket Society some time ago as “ not a philanthropic institution but a national humanitarian institution for the benefit of all.” With the particulars of the Society’s work the public is familiar, but it is worth while to recall Sir Truby King’s reminder that the Society is less concerned with reducing the death rate than with raising the general standard of physical fitness in the rising generation. In that relation there was much instruction in the appropriate address delivered at yesterday’s meeting by Dr C. R. Burns, who concluded with the statement: “ There is no reason whatever against our showing the world what may be done in the development of a physically healthy race from the nutritional point of view. It can be done.” Such an objective is surely worth striving for, especially in the light of the encouragement offered by what the Plunket Society has already achieved in, humanly speaking, the comparatively short period of its existence.