SPECTRE OF LEPROSY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 13 December 1924, Page 7

SPECTRE OF LEPROSY.

WEST AUSTRALIAN SURVEY. EXPERT’S DISQUIETING REPORT. AMAZING LAZARET CONDITIONS. (New Zealand Herald Correspondent.) 7 SYDNEY, Nov. 19. The horror of leprosy infection ( although a remote contingency in Australia, is by no means an impossible one. Owing to the vast and widely separated areas in which the disease occurs it is yery difficult to cope with, but even allowing for this the conditions existing at the lazaret at Derby, on the north-west coast of the Continent, as revealed in a report submitted to the West Australian Government by'Dr. Cecil took, an expert in tropical diseases, who was commissioned by the' State and Federal Governments to make a leprosy- survey of West Australia, are very disquieting, and show need for efficient measures such" as' he has recommended for the control and treatment of this ancient affliction.

In support of his contention that immediate action mtist be taken against the spread of the disease, Dr. Cook says that, among the whites the squalor of the far north camp will give ample opportunity for the requisite intimacy of contact between the leper and susceptible that’ is believed to be necessary before infection can result. Moreover, the practice among whites of entertaining travellers, all and sundry, is a risky one'Oiice lepers begin to froam the countrywide. Amoing the blacks conditions are known to be ideal for the spread of disease in the camps. At the same time, that the conditions are -so favourable for the spread of 1 disease, the sparseness of the population and the rarity of already infected cases renders the present an ideal time for combating the disease. ‘ ‘The building in use as a lazaret at Derby,” said Dr. Cook, ‘‘is an old wooden house in the same paddock as the general hospital and the native isolation (venereal) ward. There is nothing to prevent of even to dissuade the inmates of any of the buildings fraternising with those of the others. The lazaret building is in great disrepair. While the walls are complete, the windows are for the most part missing, and the door unhung. The inside is painted and kept clean.” He proceeds to discuss the complaints tliat inmates of the lazaret are allowed a Certain amount of freedom to go on fishing and other expeditions', and come in,contact with natives from the town of Derby, who carry the fish hack to their white employers. Also, that visitors are allowed. He points out the difficulty of more strict control in the present circumstances, and emphasises the fact while a native is easily contented with food, housing and a little company, if these are lacking he will go ill search of them and be very difficult to return to confinement. “If the community,” Dr. Cook remarks. “arrogates to itself the right to deprive these unfortunates of their liberty, and to add' to the horrors of incurable disease, the miseries of lifelong imprisonment, surely it also assumes the responsibility ■of lion sing them in comfort and endeavouring to ensure that their dragging years of decline shall pass with the minimum of suffering. Jt i s to be hoped that the lazaret of the future will le a haven of refuge sought by the leper, rather than a loathsome prison, to lie avoided if need be by suicide.’’ Dr. Cook’s chief recommendation, which is now before the Federal Government. is that an up-to-date lazaret, where modern, therapeutic methods could be applied, should be established convenient, to Darwin, and be used for the acommodation for all lepers in the north of Australia.