Chilling impact of poverty

AUCKLAND: Children with maggotinfested scalps and preschoolers with rotting teeth are among the horror stories being revealed by New Zealand doctors.

In a bid to address child poverty, paediatricians have opened up about distressing cases that have left them feeling helpless.

‘‘I see rotting teeth when I lift the lip of preschoolers . . . I see matted hair on maggotinfested scalps needing general anaesthetics just to clean and shave,’’ MidCentral DHB paediatrician Jeff Brown said.

He said he saw primary school children growing up in food swamps whose morbid obesity, hypoventilation and metabolic syndromes used to be the domain of adult physicians.

‘‘I see rheumatic fever and bronchiectasis, ‘Third World’ diseases of overcrowding and poverty, filling hospital beds and clinics.’’

Dr Brown said no matter how good he was as a paediatrician, and no matter how good the inpatient care in hospital could be, he was discharging three in every four children back to cold and damp homes.

‘‘Which is the main reason they ended up in hospital in the first place.’’

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) executive director Ian Powell said the impact of poverty on some of the most vulnerable members of our society was chilling.

‘‘Poverty is a challenging, complex issue to fix but as a society it’s imperative we find ways to address the underlying causes to improve the health and quality of life for people in our communities.

‘‘This obviously means addressing problems with cold, damp housing, access to cheap, good food, and social supports that nurture children into capable adulthood.’’

Another paediatrician from a provincial town, who could not be named, said families he worked with tried to do their best but it could be an unending struggle.

‘‘We are privileged to have the chance to help. But we are limited in what we can do.’’ — NZME