{{short description|New Zealand doctor}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} '''Eva Esther Hill''' (19 September 1898 – 17 April 1981, née Day) was a New Zealand medical doctor, medical superintendent, writer, publicist and health campaigner.
== Early life and education == Eva Day was born in Parawai, Thames/Coromandel, New Zealand on 19 September 1898.<ref name="DNZB Hill">{{DNZB |title=Eva Esther Hill |first= Cynthia J. |last= Piper |id=5h20 |accessdate=23 April 2017}}</ref> She was educated at Timaru Girls' High School and graduated from the University of Otago with an MB ChB in 1921.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=10 June 1981|title=Eva Esther Hill|journal=New Zealand Medical Journal|volume=93|issue=685|pages=392}}</ref>
== Career == After graduating Hill was a house surgeon first at Timaru Hospital<ref name=":0" /> and then at Dunedin Hospital.<ref name="DNZB Hill" /> In 1924 she became superintendent of the Whangaroa General Hospital in Northland but a year later moved to establish a practice in Piopio in the King Country.<ref name="DNZB Hill" /> During the depression she worked as a medical officer on the East Coast of the North Island.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=25 June 1931|title=Dr Eva Hill M.B. ChB.|work=Poverty Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19310625.2.54.4|via=PapersPast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=13 January 1932|title=Women's World|work=Poverty Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19320113.2.118|access-date=14 December 2021|via=PapersPast}}</ref> The country was rugged and she often rode to patients on horseback.<ref name=":0" /> Further moves were made to the Bay of Islands in 1934, to Ruakākā in 1952 and to Auckland in 1944 where she set up a practice in Mt Eden.<ref name="DNZB Hill" />
She became interested in natural treatments and went to Dallas, Texas in 1956 to the Hoxsey Clinic to learn about alternative cancer therapies.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 March 1956|title=Hoxsey Cancer Clinic|work=Press|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19560329.2.7|access-date=14 December 2021|via=PapersPast}}</ref> She practised the Hoxsey treatments on her return to New Zealand using diet, raw apple and carrot juice and opposing x–rays and radiotherapy.<ref name=":0" /> She also promoted Hoxsey treatments at public meetings.<ref>{{Cite news|date=20 February 1957|title=Tonight at the Civic Theatre|work=Press|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19570220.2.34.3|access-date=14 December 2021|via=PapersPast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=13 June 1960|title=Amusements|work=Press|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19600613.2.4.4|access-date=14 December 2021|via=PapersPast}}</ref> Her practice and support of Hoxsey brought her into conflict with the medical establishment.<ref>{{Cite news|date=18 February 1956|title=The Hoxsey Cancer Treatment|work=Press|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19560218.2.13|access-date=14 December 2021|via=PapersPast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=5 February 1958|title=Dr Eva Hill's Conviction|work=Press|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19580205.2.158|access-date=14 December 2021|via=PapersPast}}</ref> The Medical Council attempted unsuccessfully to have Hill removed from the medical register because she promoted the Hoxsey cures. She resigned from the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association in order to campaign publicly for the Hoxsey methods.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wright-St Clair|first=R. E.|title=A history of the New Zealand Medical Association : the first 100 years|date=1987|publisher=Butterworths|isbn=0-409-78779-5|location=Wellington, N.Z.|pages=65|oclc=154634648}}</ref> She also opposed fluoridation and supported the campaign against it at meetings and in her writings.<ref name="DNZB Hill" />
In 1969 Hill was made an honorary member of the New Zealand Medical Women's Association.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Maxwell|first=Margaret D.|title=Women doctors in New Zealand : an historical perspective, 1921-1986|date=1990|publisher=IMS (N.Z.)|isbn=0-473-00798-3|location=Auckland, N.Z.|pages=30|oclc=25456512}}</ref>
Hill was a founding member of the Social Credit Party and stood for Parliament several times. In the {{NZ election link year|1954}} and {{NZ election link year|1957}} elections she stood in {{NZ electorate link|Marsden}} and in both {{NZ election link year|1963}} and {{NZ election link year|1966}} she stood in {{NZ electorate link|North Shore}}.<ref name="DNZB Hill"/>
While Hill's mainstream medical colleagues disagreed with her they also acknowledged that she was a caring person and sincere in her beliefs.<ref name=":0" />
== Personal life == Hill married in 1927.<ref name="DNZB Hill" /> She met her husband Justly Hill in Whangaroa and they had two children.<ref name="DNZB Hill" />
She died in Te Awamutu in 1981.<ref name="DNZB Hill" />
== Selected publications ==
* ''Co-existence'' (1955) * ''Facts about fluoridation of water supplies'' (1955) * ''There are worse ills than death!'' (1955) * ''A simple guide to better health'' (1976) - 2nd edition * ''Light behind the headlines : a simple guide to some causes of present world unrest'' (1976) * ''Don't be scared of cancer : try to understand its causes and avoid the obvious ones'' (1978) * ''Why be scared of cancer?'' (1979)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Eva}} Category:1898 births Category:1981 deaths Category:New Zealand activists Category:New Zealand women activists Category:20th-century New Zealand women medical doctors Category:20th-century New Zealand medical doctors Category:New Zealand writers Category:People from Coromandel Peninsula Category:New Zealand women writers Category:Social Credit Party (New Zealand) politicians Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1954 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1957 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1966 New Zealand general election Category:20th-century New Zealand women politicians Category:20th-century New Zealand politicians Category:University of Otago alumni Category:People educated at Timaru Girls' High School