TUBERCULOSIS

Southland Times, Issue 19654, 3 October 1922, Page 7

TUBERCULOSIS

FIGHTING THE DISEASE. The following paragraph from the annual report of the Director-General of public health, Dr T. H. A. Valintine is of general interest:—The death-rate of 6.48 per 10,000 of mean population is, I am glad to advise, second lowest, on record. The campaign against, this disease has been, and still is, one of the most difficult and important problems that faces any Department of Health. We must also consider its great humanitarian appeal, and withal define and regulate our policy, especially in these times, in due regard to expenditure. 'rhe extended prolusion, of sanatoria is one that is at the present time engaging the earnest consideration of the Department, and in the near future in this respect. additional accommodation will be provided at Waipiata, in Central Otago, to the extent of fifty beds. However, not on the Government alone should rest the full burden of the campaign against the disease, for undoubtedly Hospital Boards and local authorities must bear their share of responsibility. 1 am glad to be able to state that in regard to Hospital Boards there is an increasing tendency to, in some measure, meet the demands for the treatment of cases arising within their districts. In the general scheme of prevention, housing is of vital importance, and is one within the particular it seems of local authorities. Ln a valuable report, presented by a special committee of the Board of Health in 1919 on housing conditions in this country we find some very striking facts. Thus is was computed that 13A per cent, of the population are living in crowded conditions, amounting to over 136,000 of the inhabitants. Of this number there were 209 cases of 34 persons living in a single room; 498 of 3 to 3A persons per room; 1,550 of from 2| to 3 persons per room. However, herein appears manifest, to some extent the contrariness of human nature. We find people of all classes who appear prepared to live under crowded, uncomfortable, and often socially disagreeable conditions by paying a high rent for a “bed-sitting-room, double bed, and use pf kitchen, or two rooms and kitchenette,” rather than support proposals of a Government or of municipal authorities or other public bodies for the erection of small houses of two or three rooms and accessories on amplespaced sections. In spite of times of financial stringency, these proposals have much to be commended from the authorities’ and purchasers’ standpoint. It is also reasonable, to suggest the relaxation of some of the more stringent building bylaws, especially those relating to the height of rooms, so as to enable dwellings to be erected within the reach of the most modest income. Surely it is regrettable that in a young country such as this, with the knowledge of the evils likely to result from the above housing conditions, evidenced in the committee’s report, such a state should exist; and as long as it does one cannot with any degree of confidence look for a marked diminution of the incidence of this disease.