NEW HEBRIDES

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 22, 26 July 1945, Page 9

NEW HEBRIDES

CONCERN ABOJJT LEPROSY ;RA. "■■ AUCKLAND, July'2s. Leprosy among the natives of the 1 New Hebrides Islands was causing the! authorities some concern, said the Key. i D. N. MacDiarmid, director of missions of the Presbyterian Church, who has returned to New Zealand after spending five weeks'in the group. Mr. MacDiarmid visited the islands to attend the Presbyterian Synod at Santos Is-] land and to meet New Zealanders en-' gaged in mission work for the.Presby-i terian Church. i He had found that the medical and] governmental authorities would 'welcome the help of the missionary bodies in dealing with leprosy. While the number of lepers, in. the group was unknown, 20 had been located on one occasion, but there were then no facilities for forming a colony. The British Resident Commissioner had approved of a proposal that ■ a medical officex*'should make a complete survey of the islands, said Mr. MacDiarmid. Funds for the carrying out of the survey and, if necessary, the formation of a leper colony on a suitable island, had been provided by the Leper Trust Board. Mr. MacDiarmid said that while many of; the islands in the group had not felt the impact of war ia any way, those that had been used for military purposes had enjoyed temporary prosperity... That prosperity, unfortunately, had adversely affected the old-estab-lished copra industry, as labour had drifted away to more lucrative avenues. • Because of their fertility, invigorating climate, and attractive scenery, the New Hebrides had distinct possibilities in the post-war tourist trade. Some Americans he met compared, parts of the group most favourably with Honolulu.

New Zealand had every cause to be proud of the work being done in the Islands by three South Island missionaries, the Revs. C. K. Crump, J, G. Miller, and I. Muir, and their wives, said Mr. MacDiarmid. He was surprised to find on the island of Nguna a church with a congregation of 400 natives. The missionaries were called on to do a considerable amount of medical work and he knew of one man who gave 120 injections against yaws after he had conducted a church service. They were also responsible for education.