Vaccine for disease a priority

The well researched article by Andrea Fox in the Herald, ‘Decision day looms on cattle disease’, highlighted the importance of the ‘culling decision’ today.

Keith Woodford, prominent agribusiness consultant and former Lincoln University professor, likened M. bovis to the chicken pox virus.

Discovery of a similar chicken pox vaccine for M. bovis cows would go a long way to controlling the disease and providing a long term solution.

NZ has some of the best animal research institutes in the world, for example, the Ruakura Research Centre in Hamilton.

This is a billion dollar problem in NZ. We need to treat it as such. Money is a motivator and there needs to be some serious incentives offered for a cure.

Say a million-dollar encouragement to the doctor/team that discovers the cure. (Call it a ‘six month educational research grant’ or whatever, if this is a political issue).

Part of the problem also seems to be testing individual cows to establish whether the cow is infected or not.

This also requires immediate attention — if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

As Kiwis and animal lovers, we really feel for the farmers. We need our excellent research infrastructure to step up. Steve Weir, Gulf Harbour.

Time for a fresh face

It is heartening to see that Susan Devoy is finally leaving the position of Race Relations Commissioner.

Her time as the Commissioner has been fraught with controversy and ill will.

Time for a fresh face with better ideals to repair the damage sustained during the past five years. J Stafford, Hastings.

Lessons not learned

As a country we have just recovered from a very expensive exercise, with importing bee pollen, and devastating our kiwifruit industry. Now we hear that artificial insemination material has been brought into the country. Was it suitably tested before importation?

Surely a lesson was learnt, through the kiwifruit disaster?

As a country, MPI must know who imported stock, and perhaps more importantly semen.

Maybe we should be taking a good hard look at this angle?

Nobody has mentioned beef stock being infected? Lois Newby, Orewa

Phones and driving

Saturday evening’s TV1 news presenter spoke of the problem caused by the use of phones when driving i.e. high rate of accidents.

My Apple iPhone remains unanswered while I’m behind the wheel. It really is a “no brainer”. The world will not stop turning if the caller has to wait for a reply. Try it! Judith Bouwman, Torbay

Ward argument illogical

Your columnist Lizzie Marvelly abuses her privileged position in our largest newspaper to argue for the “fairness” of race-based Maōri wards. Her comparison of Maōri wards with rural wards omits the obvious fact that rural wards are not race based. Her argument fails anyway on its own logic. She argues against rural wards because they “have an outsized influence upon public decision making”, then turns around and argues for Maōri wards. You can’t have it both ways! David Gibbs Beach Haven

City stadium not on

As a long time Auckland ratepayer, I refuse to pay one cent of my rates towards this ugly monster plonked in the middle of our city. As if the traffic gridlock is already not a major issue. Put it somewhere outside of Auckland. How about beyond Bombay Hills? Light rails and buses should be part of this project. Rest assured those footy fanatics will travel to see the matches, as long as there is a beer outlet close by. Ahmed Asgher, Oratia.

Bullying goes unpunished

Regarding bullying in the workplace. Not long ago I worked in a school where my boss made life miserable for everyone unlucky enough to be around him. Approx 12 staff resigned from his department because of his actions over a decade, and multiple complaints from staff, some of whom didn’t even work in his department, never led to any meaningful results.

They were simply trivialised or brushed under the carpet. Life was hell for most of the people working with this guy. Some were reduced to tears on a regular basis. Everyone else was walking on eggshells for fear of his violent and irrational outbursts which included shouting, screaming, threatening and intimidating language and behaviour. Eventually I had enough and also resigned. PPTA, our union, advised against a formal complaint without “evidence” and no one wanted to speak up because they knew no one was taking the matter seriously. There must be a better way. Name and address withheld

Ardern above remark

A rabble is always defined by the quality or not of their leaders. Whether National made that very improper remark in the house is immaterial but it was their continued use of the slur that sunk them below the line of acceptability. Jealousy and envy is often said to be a curse and it was obvious by the actions of one particular member they are saddled by that yoke. The Prime Minister’s position deserves respect regardless of personal opinion. Jacinda Ardern to her credit has not allowed herself to be dragged down to a level illustrated by some members. They would be well advised to take a page out of her book and then perhaps they would not look as foolish as they now are. Reg Dempster, Albany

Rescue helicopter funding

Your editorial urges people to donate to rescue helicopters to meet a $2.9 million shortfall. I know these as “Westpac” rescue helicopters. Westpac Bank made $482m in New Zealand in the first six months of the year. Why are you not urging Westpac to be a little more generous and give back some of the money it has made from New Zealanders, to support the helicopters 100 per cent?. Most ordinary people struggle financially yet they are asked to find money for donations. Westpac is not only not struggling, it gains priceless publicity from its support for the helicopters. Put up the money, Westpac! Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.

Autism opinion annoys

I read with irritation the article reporting an opinion by psychiatrist David Bathgate that autism is under-diagnosed in New Zealand. Some pushback is required against the overweening arrogance of the psychiatric profession.

As a mostly unwilling patient of the mental health “system” for the last 10 years, I have had opportunity to meet many people diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, often at a time when slight autism was referred to as Aspergers Syndrome. I know a young man, bi-polar, intelligent and highly socially competent, who was misdiagnosed autistic for a time. He was misdiagnosed autistic because he went through a period during which he had difficulty making friends. Bathgate does not credit the possibility that there may be many patients in the Mental Health Service diagnosed autistic, perhaps because bad luck or adverse life experiences caused them difficulty socialising, who are not in fact autistic at all. Autism may be over-diagnosed, rather than under-diagnosed. Some years ago I recall an article posthumously diagnosed Janet Frame as autistic. As someone who has read Frame’s autobiographies and many of her novels, I find this proposal risible. The term Autistic Spectrum Disorder hadn’t been coined in 1945 — even if it had, although it is possible Frame might have accepted the label when young and impressionable, if told she had it, she would certainly have rejected this diagnosis later in life.

Setting aside the problem of how one identifies autism, how Bathgate can make the claim that New Zealand is full of undiagnosed autistic, another issue arises. What is the utility of diagnosing a person autistic? No drug exists to treat autism. No therapy or even counselling of people diagnosed autistic ever occurs. All the diagnosis does is stamp a permanent label on a person’s forehead. Surely, the proper approach should be to identify and address the life-experiences that have led to the social impairment? Experiences that include, in my opinion, the diagnosis of autism itself. Andrew Judd, Eden Terrace.

Expensive search

The tragic last flight of MH370 was in March 2014, over four years ago. The sad reality is that the 239 people on board are gone, no matter what happened. Wild theories and conspiracies do not soften the sadness felt by so many.

The search has been extensive and expensive — about $200 million and that is concerning. If the plane crashed in water people would have to be found within hours to survive and on land probably within a week and little more could be achieved in the next four years.

As an outsider with no lost family or friends I wonder about the money spent so far. What other uses are there for this money — it could train many doctors or be used for medical research and even for a health campaign? Maybe these ideas would lead to more lives being saved. Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne.