CO129-472 - Others - 1921 — Page 489

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VENEREAL DISEASE.

roposed Commission of Inquiry

For Malaya.

Malaya branch of the British Medi- Association had a conference on the inst., in the Municipal Council mer with the Commissioners of the Sonal Council for Combating Venereal

5.

Malcolm Watson, president of the un branch of the Association, pre- over & gathering numbering 37, in his opening address welcomed the nt of the Commissioners and impress- importance of venereal disease on community at large.

Hallam put before the meeting the of the Commission, via :-Con- with the local authorities in the Eastern ports with regard to the be measures which might be under- to reduce the incidence of venereal He reminded the members of Aviation that the question of the tes of free diagnosis and treatment! the seafaring population of all was to be discussed at the con- of the health section of the of Nations to be held at Geneva ebruary, 1921. Dr. Hallam then the recommendations which have approved by the National Council ombating Venereal Disease, namely the provision of free diagnosis, the provision of free treatment early treatment contres and

a campaign of education of eral public. He pointed out that ards prophylaxis and prostitution rsonal opinion and the opinion of Sety were in favour of early treat- ather than personal prophylaxis suppression rather than segrega In support of these he quoted a letter by Colonel Harrison on the of the experiences with prophylac- kets in Rhine Army and he also ttention to Flexner's views on the He pointed out that in all where a public health policy was by considered very active measures being taken to provide modern at for venereal diseases and also sh segregation of prostitute, He ed the fact that even in Japan

bli health department were

תו

of suppressing brothels, and cited stance the improvement in one of anties of Japan in which the!

bad been already enforced. th Dr. Hallam realised that the aners in these Far Eastern ports considerably from those found e, nevertheless he wished to im- the members of the medical pro- here that the views of many es were opposed to recognised Fon and that these views were by many recorded facts which rthy of the most profound con- before coming to a final opi- conclusion he asked for the of the members of the Son in giving approval to the

posals mentioned above.

486

I

Position in

Dr. Galloway in his reply gave fuil ap-i proval to the establishment of free diag- nosis and free treatment, and although approving of a campaign of education of the general public in principal he was of opinion that little could be done on that score in Singapore. He then proceeded to point out the great divergence which existed between the actuality as existing here and the commonly accepted ideals. which were held on this subject in civi-¡ lised countries. He laid stress on fact that the social and economical condi- the tions in the Straits and F.M.S. were pro- bably unique and that it was futile to attempt to apply methods based on evi- tence or experience gained in other! countries to the conditions which obtainedj here. He urged that the only way by which any useful Measure evolved to deal with the evil was by a could be careful study of the local conditions and, to that end, he moved the resolation :-"That this Association mé

following morialise the Government of the Straits) Settlements and Federated Malay States to cause full inquiry to be made as to (a) the prevalence of venereal disease, (b) the cause of

that (c) means of treatment, (d) means of prevalence, prevention, and (e) the subject of prosti- Tation generally."

Dr Rattray, in seconding Dr. Gallo- way's proposal, stated that for the past year he had been making efforts establish a kindred society in Malaya, to viz., the S.P.V.D. These efforts had been crowned with success and his society is established here on a Bound foundation. Dr. Rattray considered that his society went a necessary step further than the N.C.C.V.D., namely, in giving greater promi-| nence to the value of disinfectants as a preventative of venereal disease.

Dr. Hoops joined the discussion and thought that the seafaring population should receive greater attention. He gave his experiences of the value anti-venereal clinics which he had estab-

of lished in Kerlah.

Dr. Hacker gave an account of his ex- periences with the Garrison in Singapore. He was in favour of early treatment.

In the subsequent discussion, Dr. Can- drick, Dr. Glass, Dr. Dawson and Dr. van Dort joined.

Dr. Hallam replied briefly and the pro- ceedings were terminated by the unani- mous adoption of Dr. Galloway's resolu- tion

The council and members of the Malaya branch of the British Medical Association entertained the Commission- ers to dinner at the Europe Hotel at night. There were present:-Dr. Mal- colm Watson (President, Malaya branch B.M.A.), Mrs. Rolfe, Miss Grant,

the

: Dr. Hallam (Commissioners of

N.C.C.V.D.), Mr Haynes (Secretary to the High Commissioner, Malay States), Mrs. Haynes, Dr. Hoops, Mr. and Mrs. Cavendish, Dr. and Mrs. Brooke, the! Hen Dr. Lim Boon Keng, Dr Hunter, Dr. Fry, Dr. and Mrs. Taylor, Dr. Dexter Allen, Dr. and Mrs. Black, Dr. and Mrs. Rattray, Dr Stookes, Dr. Scharff (hon. sec. Malayan Branch, British Medical Association), Dr. Gray, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Leicester, Dr. Van Dort, Dr. Orahay, Dr. Conrad, Dr. Weerekoon, Dr. Murison, Dr. Gibbs, Dr. Hoahing, Dr. Glass, Dr. Web- ster, Dr. Fitzgerald, Dr. H. L. H Lim, Dr. Lim Han Hoe, Dr. McGregor, Cap- tain Hacker, Dr. Noel Clark, Mr. Quent- zer, Dr. P. L. Loh, Dr. Jap, Dr. Sayers, Dr Dawson and Dr. Macalister.

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