LEPROSY NOT INCURABLE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4969, 3 May 1926, Page 1

LEPROSY NOT INCURABLE

WORK ON MAKOGAJ ISLAND. INVESTIGATIONS by doctor. Three or four days’ sjail from New Zealand, and practically due north of it, lies the small island of Makogai, the home of he lepers. By arrangement with .the Fijian Government, under whose, jurisdiction the island is, the New Zealand Government steamer Hinemoa left for Makogi on. April 27, picking up en route 36 lepers from the Dominion’s dependencies and mandated territories. With reference to this, Dr. G. P. Ellison, Chief Government Medical Officer of the Cook Islands Group, gave to a. Wellington Dominion reporter the results of his investigations, on this island, and of the work done for the lepers there by Dr. Neff, his staff, .and the 10 Sisters of Mercy.

MAKOGAI ISDAND. “Makogai, with an area of about 2000 acres, is two or three miles long and 850 feet high at its highest, point,” sa<id Dr. Ellison. “The country is of volcanic origin, and bush clad, with very rich soil, and an excellent climate. The trade winds continually blowing keep it beautifully cool. The island .teems with birdlife, fishing is to be had in plenty, while the. two beautiful harbours, in the north, on one of which is the hospital, are so completely sheltered by nearby islands as to make boa, ting a real pleasure. Turkeys and other domestic fowls, thrive prodigiously. Across the island, dividing it roughly into a third in .the south and twothirds in the north, runs j a ‘taboo’ fence, beyond which the patients denot, nor are they allowed, ,to go There is a good water supply laid on.

v STATISTICS. ‘•I think,” said Dr. Ellison,' "that the arrangements made with the Fijian Government, by which they are to take over the lepers of New Zealand, the.'dependences, and the mandatory territories, is a very commendable one. It will enable the. sufferers ■to have the most efficient treatment under the. most suitable conditions. There are qt present 295 cases on the island, and Dr. Neff, who has been thpre for- five years, hats: done excellently in carrying forward the self-sacrificing work of his predecessors. From November, 1911, to December 31, 1925, there have been 954 admissions, made up of 766 males and 183 females,. “In the same period there haye been 243 deaths, (175 males’ and 68 females. Most of the deaths were due t.o complications from which even non-leprous people aiie not altogether immune rather than as the direct result of the disease of le.prosy itsielf. • LEPROSY CURABLE. “Leprosy is, not, as many people apparently believe, an incurable diste.aise. Tn the 14 year® under review 99 people have been discharged from the island on parole, 19 have been discharged unconditionally as- completely cured, and 325 Indians, have been repatriated 1 . There were six readmissions. These terms require a little elaboration. 'A cured case is one which showfc no active signs dura period of two years;, where the germs wre also absent, and where negative swabs and smears are continually taken. Other methods 1 employed are the taking of photos before and after treatment, the return of sensations in areas formerly anaesthetic ; the gradual disappearance of masculae and nodules leaving typical scars ; the recovery of pigment in old maculae ; restored movement or power in joints and digits, once useless ; degeneration of bacilli and sometimes complete disappearance; improvement of tropic ulcers ; improvement in mental outlook and general wellbeing of patients. “Pafiente. on parole are those to whom certain conditions against indiscriminate mixing with people arc attached. The 325 repatriated Indians do not. necessarily mean cured cases, but those, where the disease has been found stationary or inactive. “The readmissions; form an interesting and an illuminating' comTnentary on the., Fijian race. So pleased are thee® Fijians with their treatment' on the island that they are anxious, when, released, to get back again, and do a,U they can .to contract the disease a second time.