PUBLIC HEALTH.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VII, Issue 2030, 17 August 1920, Page 11

PUBLIC HEALTH.

IMPORTANT NEW MEASURE. BILL TO BE INTRODUCED. [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, August 17. One of the most important Government measures likely to be introduced this week is the Public Health Amendment Bill, to which the Hon. C. J. Parr (Minister of Public Health) is now putting the finishing touches. This Bill will consist largely of the consolidation and rearrangement of the present law on the subject, which is contained in about a score of different statutes. However, it is understood that a new Board of Health is to be constituted, with a membership of eight or-nine, representing various local bodies. This new board will assume many of the powers at present held by the Inspector-General of Hospitals. There will also be laid down the clearest definition respecting the functions of the department, -the hospital boards and local bodies, both in regard to matters of sanitation and the prevention of disease. The Minister has taken a new departure by sending out a synopsis of the Bill to every local body in New Zealand, and, of 40 replies received; to date, 39 express strong approval of the measure.