H.—3l.

Tuberculosis : All Forms (611). —The following table indicates the course of this disease since 1929 :—

New Zealand has the lowest death-rate from tuberculosis in the world. In common with many other countries, including Great Britain, it has steadily reduced in the last half-century. This year's rate is remarkably low. Tuberculosis, however, still takes fifth place as a cause of death in New Zealand, and disables temporarily or permanently many more than it kills. Of 611 deaths from tuberculosis last year, 476 (= 3-24) were assigned to pulmonary tuberculosis, and 135 to other forms of this disease, comprising tuberculosis, meningitis, and peritonitis, and tuberculosis of the bones, joints, glands, &c. Other Forms of Tuberculosis.—The 135 deaths last year from other forms of tuberculosis were made up as follows : — Tuberculosis of meninges and central nervous system . . . . 43 Tuberculosis of intestines and peritoneum .. .. . . 12 Tuberculosis of vertebral column. . .. .. .. .. ..19 Tuberculosis of bones and joints .. . . . . . . .. 3 Tuberculosis of skin and subcutaneous cellular tissue .. . . .... Tuberculosis of lymphatic system . . . . . . . . 1 Tuberculosis of genito-urinary system . . . . .. .. 20 Tuberculosis of other organs .. .. .. .. .. 1 Disseminated tuberculosis .. .. .. .. .. .. 36 135 A small proportion only of those latter deaths, particularly those of children, are deemed by recognized authorities to be possibly due to infection from the cow, and bacteriological tests of milksupplies in New Zealand have shown the milk-supply, to be remarkably free from bovine tubercle. SECTION 2,—NOTIFIABLE DISEASES. Attached are four tables showing the incidence of infectious diseases in New Zealand for the year ended 31st December, 1933, — Table A, showing distribution by months. Table B, showing distribution by health districts. Table C, showing distribution by age and sex. Table D, showing distribution of Maori cases by health districts. Tables A, B, and C are exclusive of Maoris. Unless otherwise stated, the comments deal with Europeans only. General. During the year 1933 there was a decrease of 96 in the number of notifications as compared with the previous year. The particular diseases which show a marked reduction on the previous year's figures are scarlet fever, enteric fever, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, puerperal fever following abortion or miscarriage, food poisoning, and undulant fever. Increases were shown in the notifications for diphtheria, eclampsia, hydatids, influenza, and bacillary dysentery. Tables and comments regarding certain of the more common infectious diseases are given below.

(a) Scarlet Fever in New Zealand.

During the six years shown in this table there has been a remarkable and gratifying reduction both in the number of notifications and in the death-rate. The year 1928 was a " peak " year for this disease, and approximately one-third of the cases notified were from the Canterbury Health District. The highest recorded number of notifications from this disease prior to 1928 was in 1916, when 4,278 cases were notified.

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Number of Deaths Death-rate from Tuber- j Number of Deaths Death-rate from TuberYear. from culosis per 10,000 of Year. from culosis per 10,000 of Tuberculosis. Mean Population. Tuberculosis. Mean Population. 1929 .. 642 4-56 1932 .. 615 4-22 1930 .. 649 4-55 1933 .. 611 4-16 1931 .. 617 4-27

Deaths. y ear Number of Notifications. w 11Ttl h Pr Kates per 10,000 of Case-fatality Mean Population. Rate per Cent. 1928 6,127 57 0-40 0-93 1929 .. .. .. 4,848 27 0-19 0-56 1930 .. .. .. 2,244 16 0-11 0-71 1931 .. .. .. 1,304 11 0-08 0'84" 1932 .. .. .. 829 6 0'04 0-72 1933 .. .. .. 783 4 0-03 0-51