London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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18
VENEREAL DISEASES.
At the meeting of your Worshipful Committee in July, 1931, authority was given
for the preparation and printing of notices in various languages drawing the attention
of seamen to the facilities for the free treatment of the Venereal Diseases in clinics
in the vicinity of the Port of London. The Port of London Authority kindly agreed
to post these notices in the sanitary conveniences on the docks. A list of the conveniences
was drawn up showing in each case the nationality of the ships berthing
near by. A notice as follows was prepared:—
Venereal Diseases.
Syphilis (Pox) and Gonorrhoea (Clap) can be cured by skilful treatment in the
early stages. If treatment is neglected or unskilful these diseases become difficult to
cure and there is grave risk of years of ill-health and premature death to the sufferer
and of the spread of infection to others.
Skilled treatment free of charge and under conditions of secrecy can be obtained at the following clinics at the times stated :—
| London. | |
| Seamen's Hospital, King William Street, Greenwich, S.E. 10. | Syphilis—Monday and Wednesday, 7 p.m. Gonorrhoea—Tuesday, 6 p.m. ; Friday, 7 p.m. (Merchant Seamen may attend at any other time.) |
| Miller General Hospital, Greenwich Road, Greenwich, S.E. 10. | Daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Seamen's Hospital, Royal Albert Dock, E. 16. | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12.80 p.m. (Merchant Seamen may attend at any other time.) |
| London Hospital (Whitechapel Clinic), Turner Street, Mile End, E. 1. | Daily, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Guy's Hospital, St. Thomas Street, Borough, S.E. 1. | Daily, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| St. Thomas's Hospital, Westminster Bridge, S.E. 1. | Daily, 8 a.m to 10 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to 12 noon. |
| St. Paul's Hospital, Endell Street, Covent Garden, W.C. 2. | Daily, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to noon and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. |
| St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 20, Golden Lane, E.C. 1. | Monday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursday, 12 noon to 2 p.m. |
| Gravesend. | |
| 22, Cobham Street, Gravesend. | Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.; Thursday, 4.45 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. |
A copy of this notice was sent to 16 foreign Consuls in London with a request to
each that, in the interest of seamen of his own country, he should translate the notice
into his own national language. All the Consuls willingly and graciously complied, with
the result that the notice has now been translated into Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese,
French, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Latvian, Estonian,
Russian, Japanese and Chinese. In regard to a notice for the benefit of Indian seamen,
it was not possible to obtain in London a translation which would be understood by
all the native seamen in the Port. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company kindly undertook to take a copy of the notice to Bombay, to get it translated
into the dialect which is understood by all natives, and also into Goanese, and
to have it printed there.
These notices are now posted in the Sanitary Conveniences in your district in
languages corresponding to the nationalities of the ships berthing in the vicinity.