The Southland Times WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1943. Venereal Disease

Southland Times, Issue 24986, 24 February 1943, Page 4

The Southland Times WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1943. Venereal Disease

UNPLEASANT facts were quoted yesterday in a statement made by the chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, Mr Allan Moody, on the behaviour of patients suffering from venereal disease. Female patients, he alleged, were “so uncontrollable” that the medical superintendent and the nursing staff felt unable to carry on under present conditions. They refused to obey instructions, and had been guilty of behaviour which was “a public disgrace.” Mr Moody declared that they “needed the type of control which could be given by prison matron or police matron,” and the board resolved to ask that a special provision be made for them. It is easy to understand and sympathize with the difficulties of the medical and nursing staff. Everything possible should be done to remove oi’ alleviate them. But the campaign against venereal disease will suffer a setback if remedial treatment becomes too closely associated with police control. The secrecy which for so long has covered the ravages of the disease is part of the public attitude towards painful and ugly social problems. One result of this attitude is that infected persons have been reluctant to reveal their condition, and in many cases the ailment has reached an advanced, incurable stage simply because medical attention came too late. Such persons are not only destroying themselves: they are also exposing others to the danger of infection. The problem has been brought into the open in recent years, mainly because an increase in syphilis, the worst form of the disease, was noted in Wellington and Auckland about the time of the Centennial Exhibition. A further disturbing increase became evident during the early years of the war, and the Department of Health took certain steps to attack the menace. An amendment of the Health Act, 1920, authorized a more adequate control of persons suffering from syphilis. The Medical Officer of Health was given the power - to order any such person to be detained in a public hospital. At the end of last year, when it became clear that more stringent measures were needed, the Police Offences Emergency Regulations were gazetted. These were designed to establish a wider police supervision over houses of ill fame. They also authorized the courts to order the examination of persons, charged with certain offences, who are suspected to be suffering from venereal disease. These powers could be justified by the urgency of the situation; but it would be a great mistake to imagine that a heavier emphasis on police control will be a sufficient remedy. Although the nature of the disease makes it partly a social problem it is also a medical problem which threatens to become acute. If there is to be punishment, it should be reserved for those who knowingly expose others to infection. Not all the patients are utterly depraved: many of them are more in need of compassion than of harsh judgment. If the behaviour of an incorrigible minority leads to something equivalent to a prison control the innocent will be penalized with the guilty, and the disease will be driven underground—with disastrous results to the health and conscience of the people. The subject should be stripped of prejudice and ignorance. A fearless educational campaign, supported by stronger - medical measures, will do more than threats and a prison discipline to eradicate a grave infection.