The Ohinemuri Gazette. MONDAY, NOV. 28, 1910. TUBERCULAR DISEASE.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 2724, 28 November 1910, Page 2

The Ohinemuri Gazette. MONDAY, NOV. 28, 1910. TUBERCULAR DISEASE.

In the report of the Public Health Department a good deal of stress is laid on the work being done to fight the white scourge .of tuberculous disease. There is reason for hope that the crusade now being pursued by the department and the local bodies will lead to a check being put on the increase of the disease. Sanatoria and annexes for the treatment of sufferers are being freely provided, and if good advice and stringent regulation be preventatives against the spread of the disease there should soon be a diminution in the number of cases. Indeed, Dr Valentine says that already a gradual decline is noticeable since the

present campaign was commenced in 1903. Still, the deaths last year from this cause totalled no fewer than 800, which is neaily one-tenth of the whole. A similar proportion is showrHjy statistics to obtain in Australia. The actual total deaths from tubercular diseases, throughout Australia, numbered 3966, out of the total of 46,426. Indeed, the deaths from tubercular diseases were the

most numerous from any form of disease except those from organic diseases of the heart, which were exactly 100 in excess ot the former. Of this great total, 2805 were those of Australianborn citizens. Published statistics show that in the large Australian cities consumption is rampant in some closelypopulated areas, and the position is not too good in parts ot New Zealand. It is greatly to be feared that adequate precautions are not taken to prevent the spread ot the disease when once the dread malady claims a victim in a family. From time to time the question comes prominently before the public regarding the best course to pursue in order to minimise the mortality from consumption—to extirpate the disease seems hopeless. It is open to argument if the restrictions on the movements of tuberculous sufferers are adequately stnnsrent. The time was, when Mentone, in France, was one of the healthiest places in the world, and, attracted by its salubrious climate, persons suffering from consumption flocked thither in hundreds, many never to return. Now, it is said that Mentone is saturated with tuberculosis, which claims

an increasing number ot victims among the local residents year by year. Persons suffering from consumption are obviously a distinct menace to the public health. Whether the same may be

said of cancer patients is open to argument. The day may come when consumptives will be subject to compulsory registration, and placed under strict medical supervision. Tuberculosis can be communicated from one person to another in a variety of ways, but probably the most prolific source ot infection is that from the expectoration of affected

persons, and in this respect very strict rules are required for safe guarding the health of the community. It is somewhat remarkable that, while tuberculosis is more prevalent in slum areas," where the conditions of life are the reverse of

hygienic, cancer claims most victrns among the refined, the leisured, the well-to-do, and the cultured sections of the community. Both are dreadful scourges of the human race, but, in the case of consumption, its ravages can be reduced by strict sanitary provisions, by fresh air and sunshine, by treatment in sanatoria, and by all-round improvement in the conditions ot living. Unfortunately, it has to be admitted that, at present, cancer is frequently amenable to no method of treatment, medical or surgical.