Michael Herbert Watt (16 March 1887 – 7 April 1967) was a New Zealand medical doctor and public health administrator.

Early life and education

Watt was born in Green Island,

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, the 11th child of Michael Watt, a Presbyterian minister who taught at Presbyterian Theological College in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, and his wife, Isabella Shand, both of whom were from Scotland. He was educated at

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

and earned MB and ChB degrees from the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

in 1910. After a year of clinical experience in London, Wolverhampton and Dublin, he received his MD in 1912. In the mid-1910s he earned a Diploma in Public Health from the same university, the second person to do so.

Career

Watt was in private practice in

Ngāruawāhia Ngāruawāhia () is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton Ur ...

from 1911. In 1914 he became a demonstrator in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

at the University of Otago, and in 1915 an instructor in anatomy. The following year, he left this position to become a part-time district health officer in the Department of Public Health, and in 1917 became district health officer in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, the first holder of such a position born and trained in New Zealand. After the 1920 departmental reforms, Watt became the first director of the Division of Public Health, and in 1925 he became deputy director general of health and in 1930, director general, succeeding Thomas Valintine. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1939 he was appointed to chair a wartime medical advisory committee and in 1942 as controller of the Hospitals Emergency Precautions Service. He retired in 1947. From 1948 to 1947, he was

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

's regional director for Southeast Asia; appointed in 1949 to head the Far East mission, he was unable to take up the post after a medical examination led to his being diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukaemia. Moulded by the 1913

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic and by study tours of Japan and North America in 1925 and of North America, Britain and Scandinavia in 1938, Watt was a strong advocate of immunisation,

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

eradication, health and dietary education and industrial health and safety. He played a major role in establishing the ''Journal of the New Zealand Branch of the Royal Sanitary Institute'' (1934), the Medical Research Council of New Zealand (1937) and the South Pacific Board of Health (1944), and laid the groundwork for the establishment of the National Health Institute.

Honours

In the 1935 King's Birthday Honours, Watt was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his services to public health.

Personal life and death

Watt married Mary Roberta McCahon in 1913 at

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

; they had two sons, both of whom also entered medicine; his elder son, James Watt, was the first professor of

paediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

in New Zealand. He died in Wellington on 7 April 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Michael 1887 births 1967 deaths New Zealand public health doctors Health professionals from Dunedin New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand public servants UNICEF people People educated at Otago Boys' High School University of Otago alumni