LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2977, 15 January 1917, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

4 1 VENEREAL DISEASES \

. i WHAT NOTIFICATION MEANS. f Sir,—l have read with interest'tho 8 report in this morning's Dominion of , the speech of the Hon. G. W. Russell , at tho Hospitals' Conference, and of the ] discussion which followed. .Will you j courteously allow mo space in your col- , umns to correct the caricature of "no- < tihcation" which seems to have gained currency among tho public? Notification is not publicity, still less is it publication. Notification is information to 110 Health authorities only, and it puts these special -diseases on the same footing as other infectious and contagious 1 diseases, which are all liable to notifica- ' tion to the Health Department, and- ' persons suffering from them to com- ] pulsory isolation and treatment where 1 necessary. And it is proposed for the ' same purpose, viz., the protection of the ' public and the prevention of their ' spreading. But there is one important ! difference between the method of noti- i fication proposed for venereal disease 1 and_ that in daily use for ordinary in- ; fectious complaints. Realising the stigma attaching, even when innocent, ! to sufferers from venereal infection, the ] Health authorities propose that these ', cases shall be notified by number, not by name, so that even the Health Department -will not know who the subjects of notification really are. Only the doctor notifying will know the ' identity of tho patient, unless for special reasons the notification of the name is necessary to ensure the safety of the public. The object of this provision is that so Jong as the patient is taking the proper steps for his own euro and the prevention of contagion not even the Health Department need know what is tho matter with him or her; but if ho or she neglects the needful treatment and precautions, and so becomes a danger to others, the Public Health Department has the power to demand tho name and to isolate and treat the patient, just the same as in a case of diphtheria or smallpox under similar circumstances. So that in the illustrative case described by Mr. Itussell notification would have shut up and treated the infected servant, and prevented her going into service, and so have saved the unfortunate family. But in the case- of tho little girls, whoso parents would be moving heaven and earth to get them thoroughly cured,. if cure were possible, their secret would have been kept by notification as completely as without it. The other important object of notification, viz., the knowledge 'of facts about these diseases for the guidance 1 of legislation, public hygiene, and medical treatment, otherwise called "statistics," can be attained by anonymous notification quite as well as by, notification of names. And in spite of the drawbacks which led the Commission refeped to by Mr. Itussell to report against notification, I feel sure it would be wise for New Zealand to think the subject out" for herself, before refusing to allow the compulsory notification of venereal disease, with safeguards against its known disadvantages and possible abuse. I believe that the right lines of the 1 campaign, against the advancing deterioration of our race by venereal disease aro: The spread! of true knowledge concerning the laws of reproduction and the Nemesis which avenges their infringement —"expose it to daylight"; facilities for scientific treatment, and, if possible, cure, placed withiu reach of every sufferer; compulsory notification and segregation, 'with, the necessary safeguards, to give our Public Health Authority power to coorco'refractory and careless cases; and penalisation of wilful or reckleas infection.—l am, ete., EDITH A. HUNTLEY, M.D. Miramar, January 12.