The sun., 1918-09-15
SPREADOF PHTHISIS
FRIGHTENS BRITAIN
War Conditions Augment the
Tuberculosis Menace in
All Directions.
PROMPT ACTION NEEDED
Soldier Patients Get Prefer
ence and Civilians Die With
out Treatment.
Special Correspondence TO The SUI.

LONDON, Sept. 2.-The question asked
In the House Of Commons by Dir Henry
MAIDEN concerning the present arrange
ments for the treatment Of civilian con-
sumptiyes In certain Lancashire areas
has drawn attention ueefully to one
aspect of a great national problem. MT
Walsh in his reply stated that owing TO
various wartime conditions. including
the preferential treatment OF soldier
consc mptives, there has been an increase
In the civilian waiting list for sanatoria
and that several advanced and hopeless
cases have died before receiving institu'
tional care.
There is nothing new in this state OF
affairs. The war has aggravated II
rather than created II. and certainly II
Ia not peculiar to any one county In
England. The number OF beds available
in this country for the treatment OF
phthisis has never been nearly adequate
to the demand. Before the war there
had been q progressive decline in our
phthisis mortality for some fifty years.
and after the passing OF the national
health insurance law local authorities all
over the country had begun to develop
comprehensive schemes for tackling the
problems more thoroughly.
SuhuBco WSF hOE "OEbcs
The war has changed all this for the
worse. It has depleted the medical
STATS It has postponed the erection OF
many much needed institutions; 1t has
increased the number Of civilian con-
sumptives, and II has produced or de-
veloped the disease in tens Of Thousands
Of soldiers. No one will grudge the
soldier patient tho earliest possible
treatment for his disease, but Il should
be remembered that the man who de-
velops consumption in tho ONCE or at
the bench may be no less o victim Of
war strain than the soldier who breaks
down In the training camp or in the
trenches
Mr.. walshs reply indicates that steps
are being taken to meet the present
emergency. A medical authority writes
to the Manchester Gudrdton as follows :
Prompt and generous measures
should be adopted to assist the local au-
thorities. who are graphing with the
disease under great and increasing diff
dalton IL urgently necessary not only
for present but for future needs. Tu-
berculosis 10 responsible for some $4,000
deaths In England and Wales every
year. It Is a preventable disease. and
II ought to be prevented. It's complete
eradication, though II involves obvious
difficulties Of many kinds, should be the
aim. We cannot really move toward II
with our present resources.
Present Conditions Discoura ginE.
The main lines OF progress are clear
beyond dispute; the diagnosis Of the
disease in a durable stage, the provision,
OF a longer period Of special treatment
than is now available for tho consump-
tive. and the effective isolation OF dan
gerously infectious cases. Along these
lines much good work has already been
done. and IN this respect Lancashire Is
no exception. But the present state of
AFFAIRS throughout the country Ia dis
couraglng. Behind all bodies which are
at work toward this end there should be
the support of q strong public opinion
which realizes that the problem In stead
lily becoming more difficult. and demands
that 1t be dealt with more adequately
and more radically than has yet been
done.
THE war has in some ways contrib
uted to the solution Of health problems.
II has emphasized the need for all meas
ures which tend to save the lives Of the
people It has given through the recruit
Ing STATS much detailed information as
to the health OF our manhood. The les
son 1t has taught as TO the prevalence OF
phthisis must not be ignored. One prac-
teal suggestion should be considered.
Cannot the grave dearth Of sanatorium
accommodation, which 10 a chief bar to
the reduction OF phthisis. be met to some
extent when peace returns by convert
ing TO this end the more suitable Of the
innumerable temporary buildings that
have been run up to meet war pur-
poses?"