A SERIOUS MENACE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 6 September 1923, Page 3

A SERIOUS MENACE.

DISEASES AT OUR DOORS

HEALTH MATTERS IN THE

PACIFIC

,- Australia's danger from diseases introduced from other Pacific lands occupied the attention of the hygienic .section of the tPan-Paciuo Congress at Melbourne on August' 17. i(Ior the purposes of the hygiene .section there was sent out some months ago a questionaire to aJI the countries bordering on the Paciiic and to all the island groups in the Pacific. '1 his form of inquiry'was designed to obtain information about the distribution of the different important diseases mound and in the Pacific. The answers were compiled m a statement, which was read to the section as a preliminary to the discussions on disease and its prevention in the Pacific. The mosquito, which spreacls yellow fever in other countries, is widely distributed all over the Pacine. ; Plague, which is endemic in Asia, has not gained a footing in.

the Pacific, except in New Caledonia, which, however, oilers a warning of the difficulty of eradicating it if it ever should gain a, hold in the other-islands. Smallpox lias not yet been recorded at any of the island groups, except many years ago at Papua and in the French settlements. Leprosy is very generally distributed throughout the island groups of the Pacific, its rapidity of spread among the natives, having been particularly noticeable in the Marquesas Islands. Malaria is serious in some of the groups, but does not occur in Fiji, Gilbert, and Ellice Islands, Samoa, or the French settlements. Dysentery is very destructive and very generally ■distributed. Influenza- has caused a tremendous mortality amongst some of the islands, but where precautions were taken against its introduction by ships it did not occur. Beriberi is "unknown in the island groups, except amongst intrc diced Asiatic labourers.

Dr. J. H. L». Cumps^on, Commonwealth Director-General of' Health, 'inj an important paper drew attention to' the pioblem which wi[l in the future J be presented by the steady disappearance of the native races in the island groups of the Pacific and their more rapid replacement by introduced! labourers from India, China, Indo- \ China, and Japan. If the present move- ' ment was not arrested, he said, the islands of the Pacific would withm a; very short time be populated with large masses of varying breeds of Asiatic coolies—a prospect of the gravest significance for-. Australia, Striking in- ' stances' of disappearance of native races were given. In New Caledonia the' population in 1853 wa^s estimated at about 70,000. In 1900 there were about 19,000. In Fiji in 1875 measles, im-j ported from Sydney, caused the death of 26 per cent, of the population. In 1918 influenza, imported into Samoa from New Zealand, caused the death of 20 per cent, of the entire population. Apart from these devastatinp; epidemics there were such diseases as malaria,' filaria, tuberculosis, dysentery,'leprosy, and gonorrhoea, fill causing . a-' steadily growing mortality, and all classes amongst those diseases which modern preventive medicine could and should prevent. As was shown by the measures instituted by the Commonwealth Quarantine Service in 1918, proper measures of quarantine could prevent the overseas transmission of the epidemic diseases. Those island groups which had their maritime communications with Australia remained free from the influenza in 1918, while the 'groups communicating with New Zealand r.ll suffered severely. Sir William Mac- j gregor just before his death had urged most strongly.that effective inter-island! measures of modern quarantine should be imposed on the Australian lines. In ; addition to such measures to prevent the . introduction of fresh infections it was important that without any delay i there should be instituted a proper system of health administration in all the island groups directed towards the preservation of the 'native races. This could most effectively be done by any international scheme with one co-ordin-ated direction, and a number of mobile units, which could move from island to island, using the proper laboratory methods of diagnosis, and establishing the local conditions which needed rectification in order to introduce healthy conditions. " " ■,

That there is a clanger of yellow fever finding its way indirectly into Australia. was the text of a paper by Dr. H. E. I Carter, United States Health Service, ! and member of the Yellow Fever Coun- ' cil of the Rockefeller foundation. He said there was a large part of the globe yet free from yellow fever in which ail the conditions were such that were tEft infection introduced it would, if left to itself, propagate and continue indefi-' nitely . These conditions existed in South and South. East Asia, Philippine Islands, Strait Settlements, East Indies, Australia and in nearly all the Islands pf the Pacific. If the infection were introduced into these regions it could b& ejected that Australia, Japan, j Straits' Settlements and some other countries could and would protect them- ' selves and eliminate the infection; but this would nob be done by all, and there would result an unspeakable calamity to the region attacked and a continual menace:to. the other countries in communication with them. At present Australia was not seriously threatened with yellow fever by any direct route ; but were yellow fever introduced into South East Asia or any of the-Islands the infection would be permanent, and a very grave risk to Australia. The measures which were taken at the Panama Canal ensured that every vessel left there free from infection. The ports jon the western coast of America were at present free from infection, and there was therefore at present no direct risk of the introduction of yellow, fever into Asia, from America, and the only indirect risk came from the chance of reinfection of the Pacific ports from Mexico and Central America.