Fight Against

Leprosy.

Conditions on Makogai Island.

SO many cases of leprosy in Fiji have been detected only when the disease has reached an advanced stage that the officials of the leper hospital at Ma kogai Island are endeavouring to take a survey of the whole Fijian group in order to prevent the disease from spreading.

Dr. C. J. Austin, who has been at Ma kogai for three years, said when inter viewed by the “Sydney Morning Her ald” on his arrival in Sydney by the “Niagara” recently, that many lepers in fected their relatives and acquaintances with the dread disease before they were discovered to be suffering themselves.

There were 110 native Fijians among the 465 lepers at the hospital, an alarm ing figure for a population of 75,000. The other cases came from New Zealand and its island dependencies, and from India and China. Indians comprised the greatest number of the present inmates.

More than 1,600 patients had been ad mitted to the hospital since 1911, when it commenced operations. Since 1918 about 250 had been discharged. The disease was declared in those cases to be “arrested”, but there could not be any guarantee of cure. The discharged per

sons were obliged to report to a medi cal officer every three months.

Makogai Island has an area of about three square miles. Most of the land is planted by the lepers, who grow most of the vegetables used. The men enjoy all kinds of sports, and are keen on cricket.

They are obliged to work four hours a week cleaning up the hospital property.

There are five outlying villages in the leper settlement, but all the women are housed in a separate compound at the main hospital.