Need For Plastic Surgeon In Leper Treatment Centres

Press, Volume C, Issue 29535, 9 June 1961, Page 2

Need For Plastic Surgeon In Leper Treatment Centres

The need for a plastic surgeon in leper treatment centres was emphasised yesterday by Mrs P. J. Twomey. She cited a case oT one young girl on Makogai Island, Fiji, whose mouth had been so badly and permanently twisted by the disease that she now had no chance of marriage and was acutely self-conscious. There were many other cases of leprous disfigurements which could be cured by plastic surgery, and so bring happiness to many patients, Mrs Twomey said.

Mrs Twomey is the wife of the secretary of the New Zealand Lepers' Trust Board, better known as the “leper man." Although she has shared his work for more than 30 years, she has just seen for the first time something of the field in which her husband has made such a valuable contribution. On Wednesday she returned from a tour of South Pacific Islands. This included stays at the main Pacific leper settlement of Makogai. and at the leper rehabilitation centre in Suva. She and her husband spent 12 days in the small guest house in the •'clean” area of Makogai. Mrs Twomey is very impressed by the work being done at this settlement—work which has reduced the number of patients from 700 to just under 300 In the physiotherapy department patients’ disabilities were being overcome with radium. It was used for treating crippled hands, feet and paralysed facial muscles, she said But Mrs Twomey felt it was a pity there was no plastic surgeon available to treat those who had been left with permanent scars. P .sides leprous patients, the whole of Fiji was without such a surgeon. REHABILITATION The work extended far beyond medical treatment to rehabilitation. At Makogai, patients had trade training. They were assured of work on discharge. Some made guitars which found ready sale in Fiji. Others were trained in the plumbers’ shop in the self-contained community. One man made violins and hoped to establish his own business after discharge. Women did a great deal of sewing, and Mrs Twomey watched one making an enormous patchwork quilt out of one-inch squares. Many were adept at crossstitch tapestry because they had an innate sense of colour, a knack of working out designs without a pattern. she said. One girl, with fingers bent double, did tapestry work faster than most ordinary persons could. “The materials received from New Zealand are wel-

corned with open arms, no matter how small the scraps are." Mrs Twomey said. Every little bit was used and articles made from them were often sold to buy more materials. An elderly nursing sister at the rehabilitation centre of St. Elizabeth. Suva, used New Zealand materials to make tiny children's clothes which were sold in the city's markets. The money raised was used to buy sewing requirements for patients. The women also needed embroidery cottons, tapestry wools, and very bright scraps of materials. Mrs Twomey said. Because of the large number of patients doing sewing, the New Zealand Leper Trust Board would soon establish a sewing room at the St. Elizabeth centre. Women were doing their work on the verandas and in any place where they could find a quiet corner. TRANSIENT Mrs Twomey said St. Elizabeth had a transient population which averaged about 40. Sleeping quarters were very cramped and there was need for much expansion. The centre housed patients who were on the way to Makogai, those who were cured and were awaiting positions on the island or transport back to their own villages, and others who were on their way home for their fortnight's leave from the island. A few. who were too old to work, lived at the centre permanently. Others who were cured and bad work in Suva also stayed at the centre. They s’dll required medical attention. “The skin of many discharged patients is still so tender that any little knock is liable to produce a sore,” Mrs Twomey said. The rehabilitation scheme at St. Elizabeth had a very very broad scope, she said. Girls were given domestic training. Though there was a great deal of unemployment in Fiji, there was always a shortage of trained domestic staff. A tailor visited the centre once a week to conduct classes in tailorir>g. and there were regular classes in basket-making and other crafts. The big feature of the

centre was the bright happiness of the patients. This was also noticed on the island. “But when patients are discharged from Makogai. there is a great weeping land wailing from those left I behind.” Mrs Twomey said. iThey soon cheered up, however. and sang “Isa Lei” quite happily. ARTIST A highlight of Mrs Twomey's trip was watching the famous leper artist, Semiss, at work. He is famous not only for beautiful, richlycoloured paintings but also because the fingers of his right hand end at the first joints. Using water colours mixed with thin starch, he paints big fea’ures such as the sky and fields with his wrist, makes finer strokes with his knuckles or a sharp instrument held between the joints of his fingers, and does very fine things, such as blades of grass, with the hairs of his arm. He is also adept at charcoal portraits, and Mrs Twomey has one of her husband that was copied very accurately from a photograph. Semissi attends an art class in Suva once a week, and Mrs Twomey said his latest venture was try-i tag to learn oil painting. Mr Twomey is still in the Pacific, visiting leper settlemen's and treatment centres in New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides. He will see where and how New Zealand funds can be channelled for most effective use.