HEALTH OF THE MAORIS

Waipa Post, Volume 36, Issue 2148, 24 April 1928, Page 8

HEALTH OF THE MAORIS

“ Apart from the spiritual, there is no question of more vital importance to the Maori people to-day than that of medical supervision,” declared the Rev. A. F. Bennett, addressing the Maori gathering at Pakipaki, near Hastings. “We are a small people,” he went on to say, “ surrounded by all sorts of epidemics, and we must look to the Health Department for much more help and more practical assistance.” It was impossible for one man in charge of Maori hygiene to do more than scratch the surface, seeing that the Maori population was approximately 60,000. His suggestion was that there should be at least three medical officers, one in each of the three Maori electorates; but the great obstacle to this would probably be finance.

Contributing to the discussion, Sir Apirana Ngata said that the question was a difficult one. “ The present position of the medical man is like the fifth wheel on a coach, and I do not hold out much hope of getting anything done when the outlook of the Health Department on Maori problems is such as it is at the present time.” In the latest bulletin issued by the Native Bird Protection Society the value of native birds is stressed in a short paper contributed by Mr S. D. Potter, in which it is stated that some 70 per cent of our bird life is not found anywhere else in the world. Once these birds are gone they are lost for ever. The writer refers to the fact that not so very long ago part of Southern Europe became almost birdless on account of nearly all the species, regardless of size or utility, being shot or trapped to provide a tasty morsel for the sensitive palates of human gourmets. As a result, the crops, trees, and nearly every form of vegetation suffered, and were in danger of extermination through insect pests of all descriptions. So marked were the effects that the authorities who had permitted this wanton destruction became alarmed, and every effort is now being made to re-popu-late these areas with birds.