NO CAUSE FOR WORRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21819, 23 November 1940, Page 6

NO CAUSE FOR WORRY

Health Of Troops In Egypt Medical Officer Details Conditions By Telegraph—Press Association AUCKLAND, November 22. A statement that the people of , New Zealand could be entirely free from worry about the health of soldiers in the Middle East was made by a senior medical officer who has been invalided home to Auckland after commanding the Field Ambulance in Egypt. There was a tremendous difference, he said, between conditions making for good health in this war and in the Great War, and from his own personal observations and experience over many months he knew that parents and relatives could be absolutely reassured about their soldiers. “Why my unit first arrived in Egypt,” he continued, “we had the job of looking after the camp hospital, so we saw every sick man, whether he was a mild case who could be sent back to the lines in a few days or whether he had to be sent on to the general hospital. While there was a certain number of minor things such as irritation to the nose and throat caused by the sand, colds and abrasions and bruises caused by the handling of mechanical equipment which is a distinctive feature of the modem army, 90 per cent of the cases handled were ones which, in civilian life, would probably never have been reported to a doctor but which, in any army, must necessarily be reported. The experience of medical officers and combatant officers who served in the last war clearly showed how much more free from serious illness and disease are the men of this war. This is shown by the very small number of deaths from sickness, the absence of typhoid and para typhoid and the remarkably small number of pneumonia cases. There have been astonishingly few cases of serious illness.” Medical Men Prepared “Various factors have benefited the men of this war.” continued the Medical Officer. “One is that medical officers know how to deal with serious types, whereas in the last war we more often than not had to feel our way. Again, before the war, the DirectorGeneral of Medical Services in New Zealand and assistant-directors in the various districts took care to obtain the opinion of the highest authorities on diseases likely to be prevalent in the Middle East. As a result all medical officers had the necessary information available to them when they began their duties with the soldiers. The men themselves have also been responsible in no small measure for the high standard of health among them. Advantage was taken of the voyage to Egypt to give lectures to soldiers on health topics, and the high standard of intelligence among New Zealanders helped considerably to prepare the ground for maintaining health. The comfort of the transports also made a tremendous difference, there being a complete absence of conditions making for disease.” “In Egypt, too, the excellence of rations and the manner in which they have been cooked and served are greatly in advance of what the men of the last war experienced,” said the speaker. “Sanitary and hygienic arrangements were in addition extremely stringent, while the welfare arrangements there have greatly assisted toward the very satisfactory health result.” Still Makes Good Impression “The New Zealander still makes the same good impression on the people of countries he visits as did the soldiers of the last war,” said the officer, “and his high general standard of selfdiscipline where once he has asked and been given a reason for various instructions he adopts the standard for himself has also led toward the general result. Parents will also be glad to know of the assistance given by the British, American and French women in Egypt in entertaining men on leave. Extreme care has been taken by them to ensure that girls soldiers meet at functions held for them are of the type the men would meet in New Zealand. There has always been dysentery in Egypt, but the methods adopted by the combatant and medical authorities has reduced its threat to a minimum. All drinking water is chlorinated. There is abundant ice and bathing is forbidden in any water that is likely to be infected. There is also a tremendous difference between the water carrying equipment of the last war and of this. Now, instead of carts, men have water waggons after the style of petrol waggons to bring their water, to them, and this ensures the purity of their drinking supplies. Another fact which has prevented a certain type of case for medical officers is that the Egyptian sun does not brown or bum to anything like the extent of the New Zealand sun. As a result there have been no cases of sunstroke. There have been a few of heat exhaustion, but that has generally been caused by the New Zealanders’ enthusiasm for work. Give them a job to do and they go hard at it. They are great boys.”