CRAVE SOCIAL DANGER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2761, 16 March 1910, Page 2

GRAVE SOCIAL DANGER.

MEDICAL CONFERENCE WARNS THE PUBLIC. The social aspect of a disease which is secretly sapping the life of the community was discussed by the members of the British Medical Association (New Zealand Branch) Conference in Wellington, and , a resolution was unanimously adopted calling for legislative intervention. A NEGLECTED CRUSADE.

In a paper dealing with the prevention of Syphilis, Dr Caliill (Wellington) pointed out that syphilis, tuberculosis and alcoholism had been described as the three great plagues of modern society, and while there were crusades against the last two the greatest of these plagues was There was danger from four points of view—danger to the individual, to the family, danger from its hereditary consequences, and its degenerate effects upon the race. It was common in both sexes and in all classes, and was always a serious, and sometimes a very grave disease. Its hereditary consequences were not inevitable, or it would be ov.:‘ of the most active elements in depopulation. Hereditary influence could be counteracted, or even annihilated, by treatment, ’but when insufficiently treated and abandoned to its own evolution, syphilis often resulted in stirility or p<oor weaklings who came into the world with so little vitality that they readily succumlxwl to the ordinary diseases of childhood, or they were reared with difficulty and grew up to manhood deficient in physical and mental powers. The hereditary consequences, and especially the high .infant mortality due to syphilis, constituted its chief social danger. PREVALENCE OF THE DISEASE.

Unfortunately, the hospital statistics on the subject in New Zealand were valueless, as the name “syphilis’ only appeared in the records of the gi avcst cases. Dr Bennie, in an address before the last Australasian Aledie.nl Congress, stated that 30 per cent, of the cases that came iinder treatment at the children’s hospital, Alelbourne, were infected .with syphilis, and he estimated the prevalence in private practice at 20 per cent., so that combining these sources of information Dr Bennie came to the conclusion that fully 25 per cent, of the sick oh> drrn in Melbourne were tainted with syphilis.. The proportion of children infected in this country was, he was glad to say, far short, of these figures. METHODS OF PROTECTION. There are three methods of prevention —moral, administrative, and medical. He placed the moral and religious measures at the head of the group because they were the simplest and most natural. No doubt nothing could be nobler than the extinction of syphilis by purification of morals and by early marriage, and nothing could be more radical—at least theoretically— for it was quite certain that if it led to the return of humanity towards innocence and the golden age, the days of syphilis would be numbered. But we were yet far off this land of promise. The utility of administrative intervention had been shown by a series of reasons which it- would be superfluous to repeat, but he would refer to the great frequency of syphilis among the demimonde. Surely it would he no .service which would rid our streets ol these people, who aspired to nothing greater than contaminating the greatest number of their fellow citzens. To say that regulation only gave illusory protection was nothing less than insane . LIBERTY TO KILL. To him, the liberty to give syphilis to passers-by on the public thoroughfares seemed as little rational as giving liberty to a mad dog. He maintained that society not only had the right to defend itself against the diseased person -wlio distributed syphilis :to allcomers, but that it was under the obligation to do so in the interests of public safety. The second consideration appeared to him decisive. This iwas that syphilis not only attacked those who ran the risk of contracting it, but also attacked many persons who did not expose themselves to it. “I maintain,” declared Dr Cahill, “that

society lias no right to disregard the innocent victims of the plague.” In dealing with the medical 'measures to co-mbat this plague, the speaker stated that to treat it was not only to cure the patient.but to drain the sources of ■contagion. To effect this the patient must bo seen in the early stages of the 'disease, the treatment must be efficient and prolonged, for to cure syphilis several years were necessary. The opponents of administrative measures contended that there was no right to sequestrate those who were spreading contagion, hnt he contended that to act thus was a social injustice, a hygienic error, and a crime. It was only a doctrine of sentimentalism founded on ignorance, which good sense would soon efface. WARNING THE YOUNG. Should our. young men be enlightened on the dangers or not? This was a question of prime importance because of the great frequency of syphilis at an early age, viz., between sixteen and twenty. Clinical statistics indicated the frequency of syphilis before the twenty-first year at ten per cent., so that the danger was a reality.' He had mad 6 many inquiries to obtain opinions on this difficult and delicate subject, and found a variety of ideas. He was told that the project ran. the risk of, deflowering innocence, or exciting morbid curiosity, of awakening premature appetites; that it would result in instructing young people in things which they ought not to knpw, and initiating them into the unchastitv and .miseries of a certain class of sexual life —at least in theory—which they could not learn too late. In reply, lie would urge that a great mistake was made as to the state of mind in elder boys, the only ones it was intended to address. They were far from ignorant of the mysteries of sexual life —at least in theory. By their reading, and still more by'their conversation, they _ had made their novitiate in these things. It was a well-known fact that pernicious literature war. read at a'n early age, therefore, there was little fear of opening up new horizons to innocence, while to know the danger might prove a safeguard.

OSTRICH TACTICS.

•'‘•Are the tactics of the ostrich to he -adopted?” asked Dr. Cahill. “Tactics which consist of shutting the eyes to the danger instead of facing it openly? But it is time to break with, exaggerated scruples, with this convention of •mystery and silence, and the ridiculous prudery which is more afraid of words than the evil itself. There are truths which are .more dangerous to keep silent than to hear, which we should have the courage to proclaim when they concern the- warding off of a veritable social peril. Is it not better to speak of them frankly, rather than leave tho initiation to chance by frivolous conversation and reading, by and adventures which are precisely those to be avoided and prevented?” However sceptical seme people might be. continued Dr. Cahill, it was probable that knowledge would cause some young men to be more circumspect and less rash than they would be without it. He did not mean to say that with the knowledge of the danger they would not sometimes expose themselves to it, hut- they would expose themselves less often, less easily, less foolishly, and in this way a certain number of those unfortunate contaminations at an early age might be prevented. SCIENTIFIC LECTURES. “I think a scientific lecture delivered to youths oil this question would have •much .more effect then all the warning* emanating from tho family hearth,” concluded Dr. Cahill. “A youth will listen with respect, or simulated respect, to what his father will tell him concerning these ticklish subjects, but too often he is only moderately impressed by the parental sermons, which lie regards as exaggerated and prudish. I am convinced that he would pay much more attention to the instructions given bv a suitable lecturer, speaking in the name of science.’" Dr. Cahill said he would like to emphasise these three points:— 1. That syphilis is a common disease in the Dominion. 2. That it constitutes a serious menace to public health. 3. That legislative intervention to prevent its spread is urgently demanded.

During the debate which followed, all tho speakers, medical men, agreed as to the grave danger existing, and it was derided to recommend legislative intervention to prevent the spread of venereal disease.