SOCIETY OF HEALTH.

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17493, 29 August 1928, Page 5

SOCIETY OF HEALTH.

WELLINGTON CONFERENCE TRIBUTE BY GOVERNOR-GENERAL. ADDRESS BY SIR TRUBY KING. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. The general conference of the Royal New Zealand Society of Health of Women and Children was opened today by the Governor-General. About 250 delegates are present from all parts. The conference will extend over four days. The Mayor welcomed the delegates. In an address Sir Charles Fergusson said one would be a very stupid, dull and unimaginative person if he did not recognise the enormous importance of. the s-ociety and the good it had done, not only for the Dominion, but lor the Empire and the world at large. The annual report, he said, showed that the infantile mortality was the lowest on record, 38.74 per 1000. The Minister o! Health also addressed the conference, speaking in high terms of appreciation of the .work of the society. He mentioned that this year Parliament would vote £25,000 towards the work.Sir Truby King gave an interesting account of his visit to great Britain and Europe, dealing especially with the progress of infantile work there, and mentioned the keen interest being taken by Their Majesties. He strongly emphasised the importance of specialism in obstetrics. Work During the Year. The annual report of the Plunket Society states that during the year ended March 31, 1928, there were 04,700 babies and older children under the care of the Plunket nurses throughout the Dominion. The number of visns paid to homes by Plunket nurses was 182,587, and the number of visits r.f mothers children to various Plunket rooms was 478,937. There were 16,483 new cases recorded for the year, and of these 13,932 were either wholly or partially breast fed. It is gialitying, says the report, to note the steady increase in the percentage of new cases which are nurtured in the natural way. During 1920-2 G 2G the percentage was 81.72. In 192627 it rose to 83.34, while lor 1927-28 it was 84.47. The average infantile death rate for the Dominion for the year 1927 was 38.74 per 1000 live births. The rates for the urban areas of ttie four main centres were:—Auckland, 37.67; Wellington, 43.53; Christchurch, 59.18, Dunedin, 42.51. The average number of deaths of infants under one month of age during 1927 was 25.83 per 1000 live births. The figures furnished by the Government Statistician showed that the average maternal mortality in New Zealand for the year ended December 31, 1927, was 4.91 per 1000 births. The maternal mortality per 1000 births for the urban areas of each of the four main centres was: — Auckland, 7.87; Wellington, 4.27; Christchurch, 1.40; Dunedin, 5.22.