VENEREAL DISEASE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17812, 11 July 1923, Page 9

VENEREAL DISEASE.

WHY PARLIAMENT SHOULD ACT. TO THE EDITOR OT "THE FF.ES3 Sir—While thanking y o ' l for very appreciative references to *. ic work of the Special Committee of the Board of Health, appointed to cmj-ai-o into the prevalence of veneronl disease in the Dominion, may I be [Knniatd to t;iko exception to your suggcsuaii that "it will bo impossible ior the new 1 arliarnent to p: ss a useful .Bill [dealing with the subject] this session t I fully recognise the difficulties Tvlnch Mr M. has to face if n.cessary legislation is to be passed and the session 19 to conclude in time for him to attend the Imperial Conference. But 1 have no hesitation in saying that there is no question of more pressing and vital importance than the introduction of some legislation, to stop tho dissemination of two of the most- terrible diseases that can afflict humanity. As I pointed out in my speech in the Legislative Council on tho Address-in-Reply, wo have the authority of Sir "William Osier for placing syphilis third, on the list of killing diseases. Its effects are so appalling that those sufferers who have reached an advanced stage of the disease may well envy those who are dead. Those effects arc not confined to those who first contract tho infection, but may extend to a second and third generation. The other disease with which tho Committee had chiefly to deal, gonorrhoea, is far more common than syphilis, and from its prevalence and its complications is one of the most serious diseases to which mankind is subject. In the absence of" notification, no accurate .statistics can bo given as to the prevalence of these diseases, but replies to a circular issued by the Committee to medical practitioners showed that on September 10th, 1522, there were no fewer than 3031 persons suffering from venereal disease under the personal care of doctors reporting, and this, of course, by no means exhausts the total number of cases. A very large proportion of these would "be in an acute stage, capable of conveying infection to others. We had evidence that infection was so conveyed, not only to those who knowingly placed themselves in the way of danger, but- to entirely innocent, sufferers. And, as tho law now stands, jithere is no means"of preventing this. If a man suffering from scarlet fover travels in a tram-car he can bo prosecuted and_ punished. He may spread venereal disease broadcast, and he incurs no penalty whatever. Hie may, while still in an infectious stage, marry an innooent girl, and there is no legal impediment in nis way. His medical man can, and of course will, warn him of the danger and wickedness of so marrying, but if he were scoundrel enough to persist, the Jaw would have nothing to 6ay in the matter. If the medical man took the extreme step of warning tho father of the prospective bride he would do so at his own peril. He would not be able to set up successfully a plea of privilege if an action for defamation were brought against him. These are not imaginary dangers. Members of the Committee know from the evidence brought before them that men infect their innocent wives, and either render them sterile or cause them to bring diseased children into the world. In some cases, much fewer in number, wives infect innooent husbands. And every medical man probably lcnows of at least one case in which incredible misery has been caused by marriages of the kind at which I have hinted. Sir, if a case of chicken pox occurs, it has to be notified to the Health Department. There is no notification required of _ tho terrible diseases under consideration. The community is very much agitated just now over a few o.ises of diphtheria. When a steamer arrived, from Sydney the other day with a fireman on board suffering from influenza, passengers and crew were at onoe ordered into quarantine. Yet both these complaints are really trivial in their effects on the general health of the community, in comparison with voneTpal disease, and succeeding tions will marvel at our criminal folly in bo long neglecting the obvious duty of attempting to stamp out such a terrible scourge of humanity. So far as New Zealand is concerned, I am convinced that the public- have become aroused to th© necessity of action In this matter, and are really eager to wipe out the reproach of past neglect. Scarcely a week passes without a letter reaching me, as chairman of the Special Committee of the Board of Health, approving of our Report, and expressing a hope that the Government will brmg down «. Bill this session embodying the provisions recommended. by the Committee. lam confident such a Bill would bo carried through both Houses with little or no opposition. The objection to delay is that every day fresh bodies are being ruined, and fresh lives are being blasted. The responsibility for any avoidable delay is so serious that I cannot believe it will be lightly incurred.— j Yours, etc., W. H. TRIGGS. Legislative Council, Wellington. July 9th, 1923.