HEALTH STAMPS

Southland Times, Issue 23334, 19 October 1937, Page 9

HEALTH STAMPS

CHILDREN WHO BENEFIT Every health stamp sold between now and Christmas will increase the confidence of the health camp associations of New Zealand in carrying out extended plans for thousands of young children whose physical condition will be materially improved by a pleasant and healthful stay in camp for a month or six weeks this summer. The completion of the full programme depends almost entirely on the public response through the medium of the health stamp, and past experience of this Post Office method of raising the necessary funds suggests that the prompt generosity of those who willingly pay an extra penny on their letters, for the sake of the children, will relieve the financial anxieties of a great band of voluntary workers before the end of the year, although the campaign will not close until February. Children eligible for admission to permanent health camps (where the buildings have been designed for this service) are, generally speaking, those whose condition of health requires residence for an extended period, preferably not less than six weeks, under expert medical and nursing supervision. There are also many attractive temporary camps organized in the summer months, and the general policy laid down for admission is that the children are in such a physical condition that change of air is advisable in the opinion of the school medical officers or school nurses. During the stay in camp, the children follow a simple routine inculcating the principles of healthy living, and they carry this useful knowledge back to their homes. All admissions to a health camp are subject to medical examination or recommendation by a responsible authority .so that the funds are expended exclusively for the benefit of children whose health requires attention, not for the provision of summer holidays of healthy juveniles. Nearly a quarter of a million health stamps were sold in the first week of the appeal.