Abstract:
This thesis traces the public health debate about venereal disease in New Zealand from
1920, when the first venereal disease clinics were established, to 1980 before the first
AIDS/HIV cases emerged. Studies of venereal disease in New Zealand have concentrated
on issues of morality and on the political and social debates; this thesis focuses on
treatment procedures and Health Department campaigns.
The thesis explores the role of doctors in relation to venereal disease. While
advancements in drug therapy benefited patients, medical authority was undermined by
demanding and defaulting patients, inadequate medical education, and a low status of the
profession. The medical profession developed epidemiological studies and defined 'at risk'
groups in post-war decades. Despite claims to be 'scientific', the assessments were
informed by stereotypes which had changed little over time.
The thesis evaluates the scope of preventative health campaigns. Defined as a public
health issue by the 1920s, venereal disease was seen as an individual responsibility by the
1960s. During this time the use of legislation declined, and education and contact tracing
increased. The control of infection was limited owing to financial and administrative
problems, defaulters and opposition from doctors. Those deemed most at risk were not
reached by government educational campaigns, leaving much to the work of welfare
groups and individual doctors.
The health campaigns targeted groups like Maori and servicemen. The historiography has
tended to overlook Maori, and, when military campaigns are discussed, to focus on
females. This thesis attempts to redress the balance. Maori had, at least until the 1950s,
different treatment experiences from non-Maori patients, although this did not necessarily
imply discrimination. The military did attempt to control servicemen, though each
Service had different experiences.
This thesis stresses the complexity of the gender issue. There was a change from blaming
females for infection in the early twentieth century to increasingly pointing to male
responsibility. Despite these changes, even with the concept of individual risk pattern by
the 1960s, and the understanding that men could be asymptomatic carriers, women were
persistently seen as the 'reservoir'. A gender bias persisted.
Description:
Restricted Item. Print thesis available in the University of Auckland Library or may be available through Interlibrary Loan. Note: Thesis now published. (2007) Kampf, Antje. Mapping Out the Venereal Wilderness: Public Health and STD in New
Zealand, 1920-1980. Berlin: Lit-Verlag. http://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/3-8258-9765-9.
Whole Document not available at the request of the author.