The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1923. TWO PLAGUES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18029, 18 January 1923, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1923. TWO PLAGUES.

' Keen sense of public duty has been shown by two organisations during the last couple of days; the one being the Science Congress in Wellington, and the other the South Canterbury Hospital Board, which met yesterday in Tirnaru. The matters dealt with were venereal disease and tuberculosis respectively; in regard to the latter, the Hospital Board expressed itself very plainly, and its decision in all probability will assist the national campaign that 'is being waged against the scourge. Whereas venereal disease is a greatei horror than consumption—although both are deadly enemies of society—in the past, too little has been done to combat it eff'ectively as far as the State is concerned, while, on the other hand, the Government, advised by the medical profession, has endeavoured to do much in the way of assisting unfortunate sufferers from tuberculosis. It is necessary, we consider, that the Government from now on should attach equal importance to both diseases. It would be impossible, for the present, at any rate, to provide venereal disease hospitals in the same way as there are sanatoria for consumptives throughout the country; but the Y.D. clinics m the Dominion at present prove that the Government has decided that the Red Plague must be fought with proper weapons, just as the White Plague is being fought with expert medical attention, fresh air, good food, and au abundance of sunshine. The Director of Public Health in Tasmania (Dr. Sydney Morris) according to a Press telegram from Wellington, in an address before the' Science Congress advocated an educational campaign, beginning with the child, in preference to legislative control of venereal disease. From the layman’s viewpoint—a viewpoint which lacks, naturally, the intensive special knowledge of the medical man, we agree with Dr. Moms; but we think that he should have gone further, and should have advocated notification as proposed in the recently published report of the New Zealand Venereal Disease Commission. It is no use thinking that special education will stop syphilis, just as it-is no use imagining that citrate of magnesia will cure cholera. Where education leaves off, there should the State’s medical forces take over. Education in sex hygiene is of the greatest possible puiluo to children; but notification of cases of syphilis and. of other forms of venereal disease would be of the greatest possible value to . the community. The Y.D. clinics would make such notification effective; patients would have to notify, under pain of fine, or even of imprisonment, and would be ordered by the law to attend the clinics for treatment. Segregation for casep in advanced stages should also be provided for, in some hospital far away from towns or cities. Train the child to be pure, by all means, but remember that although prevention is better than oure, infeotion requires cure. The suggestion of Dr. Wilkins (of the New Zealand Health Department) that the question should be treated as an educational rather than as a medico, is nothing short of ludiorouß.

Coining oloser to tome, we find that the South Canterbury Hospital J3oard is demanding notification of consumption as soon as sufferers ascertain that they have contracted the disease. Here again is a disease that is warded off by pleasant, healthy surroundings, but that cannot be prevented even in the best of homes if the person concerned is in such a state of health that the bacilli oan gain a firm, hold in his or her body. Although sanatoria in New Zealand are combating the scourge, there is yet much to be done, as the Board points out. Mere notification ad an infectious disease is hardly sufficient if New Zealand is going to be kept . as free as possible from consumption. Mr E. Hard castle's motion, which the Board carried, urges that provision be made for the compulsory detention of tubercular cases in the curable stages, and that adequato provision be made for the oare of incurable cases, in addition to making reference to the sterilising of milk, and asking other Hospital Boards to cooperate. When the country’s finances become further settled, there is every likelihood of such a plan—supported by doctors the country over —being adopted. Patients in the early stages would not necessarily be detained for any length of time, _ for the earlier the disease is fought, the sooner the cure. A great trouble in the past has been that only cad cases have gone .to sanatoria; entering’ those institutions, in many cases, when there is practacnlly no hope of cure; and it is on that account, evidently, that the Board saw fit to carry wluit may bo a far-reaching’ resolution. There seems to be little doubt that other hospital boards will support the Sout!i Onnterbury Board in its object. In 1921, 120 t cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were notified in Now Zealand, as compared with 1305 during the previous year. The very slight decrease should tend to speed np efforts to combat the evil, not to slacken them.