Venereal Disease
The spread of venereal disease during the period of the war is a grave danger to the present and future health of the nation, and the need for drastic action should not be obscured because certain palliative measures are available. Of course, there must be— and Mr. Ernest Brown assures us that there are—public education, adequate free treatment, and indirect action to discourage pro- miscuity. Of course, every instrument of propaganda should be used to show the dangers of promiscuous intercourse, and the im- portance of treatment when infection has occurred. But it is idle to suggest that that is enough. A person who has contracted venereal disease is a potential danger to others as well as to himself or herself, and there should be no hesitation in making medical treatment compulsory. Regulation 33B goes some of the way to provide the remedy, but not far enough. It requires that at least two separate patients should name the same person as the suspected source of their infection before compulsory action can be taken ; in other words, it only provides for the compulsory treat- ment of those individuals who have infected at least two others. If the Regulation is to be effective it must be strengthened.
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