Strict Isolation On Makogai Ended

Press, Volume C, Issue 29517, 19 May 1961, Page 10

Strict Isolation On Makogai Ended

The strict isolation of leprosy patients on Makogai has been ended. Patients will now be able to spend a fortnight’s leave each year in their own homes, or with friends, as a result of the passing of an amendment to the Fiji Leper Ordinance by the Fiji Legislative Council on April 18. This Is largely an outcome of an extensive campaign in newspapers last year against Fiji’s leprosy isolation laws by a New Zealander, Mr A. Thompson, of Taveuni, Fiji, who was then a patient on Makogai until his conditional discharge on July 17, Two of Mr Thompson’s many letters to newspapers were printed in “The Press” early last year. The amendment to the Fiji Leper Ordinance which allows patients on Makogai two weeks’ leave a year also provides for their conditional discharge by the Director of Medical Services instead of. I as before, by the Governor. The Director of Medical Services in Fiji (Dr. P. W. Dill-Russell), who moved the amendment bill in the Fiji Legislative Council, said that Fiji had been criticised last year in New Zealand and the United States for its policy of segregation of lepers. Leprosy was a contagious disease, but not highly so, and he did not believe there was any danger to the public if the bill was passed. In a recent letter to the editor of “The Press,” Mr Thompson says that the amendment to the isolation laws is a direct result of assistance from outside Fiji, particularly by “The Press,” in bringing to public notice the conditions suffered by victims of leprosy, and their dependants, in Fiji. “The atmosphere is quite changed at Makogai now, as many patients have already

been out on leave in accordance with the amendment, passed by Order-in-Council on July 29 last year,” says Mr Thompson. Mr Thompson says that the medical officer at Makogai was very pleased with his condition, and took it as proof that living- a normal life was conducive to physical health, while isolation retarded recovery. “This point has also been borne out by the many patients who have gone on leave, and return glowing with health,” Mr Thompson says.