Venereal disease : its present and future a paper read at the Annual Congress of the Royal Institute of Public Health, held in Dublin, August, 1911 / by Douglas White and C.H. Melville.

  • White, Douglas
Date:
1911?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Venereal disease : its present and future a paper read at the Annual Congress of the Royal Institute of Public Health, held in Dublin, August, 1911 / by Douglas White and C.H. Melville. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    J5 like suckers on the rose, sap away vitality from the tree of effort an prevent it blossoming into vigorous action. Agreed, then, that we must attack these diseases directly, not to the exclusion of, but in addition to, other means of moral improvement. How are we to set about it ? First of all, we must have accommodation. As regards beds for such patients as need them, the general hospitals cannot and do not, as a rule ,take them in. The Fock Hospital in Fondon has 136 beds for females, and 27 for males ; other lock hospitals elsewhere have about 70—possibly 250 in all. This cannot even touch the fringe of our needs. And the charitable public will not subscribe to the cure of venereal illness ; it must be done by the State. Certainly a large pro¬ portion can be treated, and even efficiently treated, as out-patients ; but the general hospitals, which are best suited to this purpose, have no special accommodation or special arrangements, such as are impera¬ tively required for properly dealing with these diseases. Each general hospital, then, should have special wards, and special arrangements in the out-patient department. Since we wish to at¬ tract patients to their own cure, all treatment should be free to all patients, the expense being borne by the State. Suitable hours should be arranged so as to attract patients without the loss of a day’s work. For this purpose also dispensaries should be provided, with suitable apparatus. In all such places measures must be taken to ensure privacy, decency, and self-respect; in particular, privacy from other patients should be secured. As regards the medical staff, there should be a special course in venereal diseases and their treatment, with a special certificate attached, which should be required for any such appointment. As in the army, so in the civil service, this would lead to the treatment of these ailments being both effectual for the patient and honourable for the doctor. Printed instructions, calculated not to disclose to others the nature of the disease, should be given and read aloud to each patient, so that he shall certainly understand them. Proper appliances should be at hand, so as to commence and teach the required treatment. The sanatoria which are now in contemplation should have their use extended to venereal disease. Many cases require such treatment. These ailments are certainly not less important to the nation than tuberculosis. Before leaving the question of hospital reform and extension, we ought to mention the cure for syphilis known as salvarsan, or “ 606, recently introduced by the genius and labour of Ehrlich. This, so far as our best information goes, is destined to play a leading part in the arrest of syphilis. It offers a definitive cure by means of one, two, or three injections, but it has its limitations and its necessities. Fimi- tations, in that cure becomes less certain, and less immediate, in pro¬ portion as the disease has by neglect got a stronger hold on its victim. In other words, the patient must come without delay for cure at the first sign of infection. (This holds equally true of gonorrhoea ; though the methods are less specific, they are fairly certain to cure if under-
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