Agency:
Tuberculosis Division
Agency Number:
Start Date:
01 Aug 1945
End Date:
31 Dec 1976
Description:
The decision to establish a State-wide campaign to eradicate tuberculosis (consumption), in conjunction with the Commonwealth and the other States, was taken in 1944. A 35mm X-ray camera was purchased and a preliminary survey undertaken (of the staff of Australian Pulp and Paper Mills, Burnie) in April 1945. Negotiations were also undertaken with the Tasmanian Sanatorium Association (see NS1292) about the management of their institution. The Tuberculosis Division of the Public Health Department was formally established with the appointment of the Director, Dr T Goddard, on 1 August. The Tasmanian Sanatorium was acquired on the same date. As with many earlier public health campaigns the Tasmanian Parliament was less than enthusiastic. The Tuberculosis Act which provided for compulsory testing was not passed until 1949 and even then had a sunset clause of 30 June 1950. Although testing was compulsory the Act specifically excluded any power to compel an individual suffering from TB to be treated. It was only with the Commonwealth-State agreement to fund testing and treatment that Tasmania legislated to extend the campaign to 1958 (then 1963, after which the sunset clause was removed from a revised Act). Using static cameras in Hobart and Launceston and 2 mobile cameras to visit country areas the campaign aimed to test every adult every 2 (later 3) years. The use of miniature X-rays simplified the mobile testing service and helped to contain costs. However they lacked precision (partly overcome by converting from 35mm to 70mm format) and some people called in for standard X-rays proved to have been suffering from influenza (for example). Despite its drawbacks the system proved effective in identifying cases of TB and as better treatments became available the disease became rarer in the Tasmanian population.;;The Tasmanian Sanatorium was re-named the Tasmanian Chest Hospital in 1950 to reflect the change from essentially passive management of the disease to active treatment as chemotherapies improved. A sanatorium at Perth was acquired and re-named the Northern Chest Hospital in 1950. Chest clinics were established at Hobart, Launceston and Devonport in 1954. The success of the campaign to eradicate TB was quite dramatic. By 1963 most of the staff in the chest hospitals were employed on a temporary basis and in 1968 the Northern Chest Hospital closed. Staff numbers at the Tasmanian Chest Hospital were dwindling in line with patient numbers and in 1974 a single ward was incorporated into St Johns Park Hospital. The last mass X-rays were performed in Hobart and Launceston in September 1976 and the service ceased operation on 31 December. The cameras were placed in hospitals and the TB registry was maintained by staff of the Technical Division of the Health Services Department.~
Legislation Administered:
Tuberculosis Act 1949 (Lapsed 1963)~Tuberculosis (Campaign Arrangements) Act 1950 (Lapsed 1963)~Tuberculosis Act 1958 (Lapsed 1963)~Tuberculosis Act 1963
Legislation Creating:
Administrative action.
Functions Performed:
Health care
Controlling Agencies:
Department of Public Health (TA19) | 06 Jan 1904 | 01 Aug 1956 |
Department of Health Services (TA23) | 01 Aug 1956 | 17 Jul 1989 |
Related Agencies:
Tasmanian Sanatoria After-Care Association (NG1292) | 01 Jan 1905 | 31 Dec 1971 |
New Town Infirmary and Consumptive Home (TA889) | 01 Jan 1912 | 31 Dec 1934 |
Evandale Hospital (TA2187) | 01 Jan 1947 | 31 Dec 1979 |
Subsequent Agencies:
Technical Division (TA752) | 01 Jan 1958 | 31 Dec 1984 |
Series Created By Agency:
AC807 Patient Register (Tuberculosis). | 01 Apr 1937 | 31 Aug 1956 |
AC808 Patient Index (Tuberculosis). | 01 Apr 1937 | 31 Aug 1956 |
AC809 Mantoux Test Register. | 01 Jan 1938 | 30 Nov 1955 |
AD665 Patient Cards for Active Cases, including Separate Cards for Patients Who Died 1975-1977. | 01 Jan 1940 | 31 Dec 1979 |
AE303 Notifications Register | 01 Jan 1940 | 31 Dec 1978 |
AD662 Chest Hospital Patient Cards. | 01 Jan 1942 | 31 Dec 1972 |
AD663 Chest Hospital Patient Cards for Patients Not Seen for Ten Years or Longer. | 01 Jan 1942 | 31 Dec 1972 |
AD666 Patient Cards for Repatriation Hospital Cases. | 01 Jan 1942 | 31 Dec 1963 |
AA241 Chest X-Rays [Srd] | 01 Jan 1945 | 31 Dec 1976 |
AC647 Nominal Index | 01 Jan 1945 | 31 Dec 1976 |
AE801 Index to Patient Register - Tuberculosis - North West | 26 Nov 1949 | 06 Jan 1958 |
AE802 Patient Register - Tuberculosis - North West | 26 Nov 1949 | 06 Jan 1958 |
AD661 Index Cards and Patient Reports, Mass Radiography Programme. | 01 Jan 1950 | 31 Dec 1978 |
HSD234 Administrative Files (1) | 01 Jan 1950 | 31 Dec 1978 |
HSD235 Administrative Files (2) | 01 Jan 1950 | 31 Dec 1975 |
HSD236 General Correspondence. | 01 Jan 1950 | 31 Dec 1976 |
HSD238 Case Files of Patients. | 01 Jan 1950 | 31 Dec 1970 |
HSD237 Financial Correspondence and associated Papers. | 01 Jan 1954 | 31 Dec 1977 |
AD810 State Register of Tuberculosis Cases. | 10 Jul 1967 | 16 Jun 1988 |
AC648 Nominal Rolls [Erd] | 01 Jan 1976 | 31 Dec 1988 |