How can prophylaxis by treatment in the case of the venereal diseases best be obtained? / by James Pedersen.

  • Pedersen, James.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: How can prophylaxis by treatment in the case of the venereal diseases best be obtained? / by James Pedersen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    By James Pedersen, M. D., New York. Whatever the measure of prophylaxis to be ex- pected from treatment, it stands to reason that the more thorough the treatment the better the prophy- laxis. The solution of the question which forms my part of the evening’s subject must, therefore, be worked out along two parallel lines, namely: How to obtain thorough treatment in the private office; and how to obtain thorough treatment in the public clinic. The latter is the point of chief con- cern. To focus the discussion upon this point and to hope that the discussion may be productive, it will be necessary to assume that every man and every woman, whether professional or lay, who has undertaken or who will undertake to influence the health and happiness of human beings, the physi- cian, the philanthropist, the settlement worker, yes, and the faddist whether he is ostensibly practising medicine or not, it will be necessary to assume that one and all accept as axioms: (i) That the venereal diseases are tangible entities; (2) that they constitute a formidable menace to the individ- ual and the State; (3) that there is a crying need for prophylaxis; (4) that actual treatment, persist- ent and persevering, is a potent agent in prophy- laxis; (5) that material medication, given or ap- plied, plus obedience to the laws of general hygiene, constitute the only actual treatment; (6) that to * Read before a meeting of the American Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis, February 14, 1907. Copyright, 1907, by A. R. Elliott Publishing Co.