MALARIA DANGER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25277, 14 July 1943, Page 4

MALARIA DANGER

WARNING /TO AUSTRALIA

TREATMENT CENTRE URGED (Air Mail) SYDNEY, July 6. The Federal Government has been warned by Sir Earle Page, member of the House of Representatives, that there is a real danger of malaria spreading in Australia if troops are allowed to return to civilian life with malarial parasites in their blood. Sir Earle Page, who was an eminent doctor until he turned to politics, was asked by the Government to investigate malaria among the troops.

" Malaria-carrying mosquitoes exist in many Australian tropical areas where the rainfall is more than 30 inches annually,” said Sir Earle Page. “Troops should be treated only in high elevations or in dry cl mates where malaria mosquitoes do not breed. Where troops are stationed in high-rainfall country, those areas should be completely cleansed of mosquitoes by destruction of their breeding grounds. To overcome the danger of malariainfected troops re-entering civil life it is imperative that power should be given the Government to examine every person and to treat them if they are infected, in order to destroy malarial infection in the blood. As soon as a soldier is discharged, he ceases to be under military medical control. Unless the report, examination, and treatment of everyone affected with malaria is compulsory, we may have a similar problem to the southern United States, Where enderhic malaria occurs in many districts.” The medical superintendent of Canberra Hospital, Dr L. W. Nott, has suggested to the Prime Minister, Mr J. Curtin, that the New South Wales Government Chalet on snowcapped Mount Kosciusko would be an ideal treatment centre. It is free from mosquitoes and isolated from the general public.