404 SANITARY CONDITIONS 



At Nassau, on the same grounds as the other hospital buildings, there is 

 a small building set aside as a lazaretto where lepers are confined at their own 

 volition (Plate LXVIII, Pig. 1). Aside from this one asylum, there is abso- 

 lutely no provision for the care of people afflicted with this loathsome and 

 disgusting disease. Moreover, the arrangements in this lazaretto are out of 

 date and thoroughly inadequate. Owing to the fact that in the Bahamas the 

 water supply is derived from wells and cisterns, the opportunity for cleanliness 

 among such patients is not of the best, and I did not see that it was possible 

 to be otherwise under the present arrangements. 



Recommendations Regarding Leprosy. 



In view of what has been said above, I deem it my duty to urge the 

 people of the Bahama Islands to arouse themselves and grapple with this 

 disease without delay, and as an aid to this end I submit the following 

 recommendations : 



First^i— As there is no known cure for leprosy, the victims of this disease 

 should be diligently sought out and isolated from their fellows. 



Second. — Two islands should be set aside, one for the detention of sus- 

 pected cases of leprosy, and the other for the permanent isolation of patients 

 in which the disease has made itself fully manifest. 



Third. — These islands should be thoroughly and amply equipped with the 

 most modern facilities for coping with the disease and for contributing to the 

 comfort of the unfortunate victims. 



Fourth. — In the asylum set apart for the pronounced cases of leprosy, 

 the two types could be detained in different enclosures and studied and treated 

 separately. 



The climate of the Bahamas is well suited to the establishment of such 

 asylums, and they could be maintained for less expense than similar ones in 

 other regions. 



I cannot help feeling that unless some measures are taken in the near 

 future to meet this deplorable condition that the commercial relations between 

 the United States and the Bahama Islands may be seriously impaired, especially 

 when the authorities in this country are aware of the actual conditions in the 

 Bahamas. 



One often l^as to see the worst in order to act for the best, and I feel sure 

 that a thorough investigation of the matter by the authorities of the Bahamas 

 would be productive of radical measures to stamp out leprosy from these 

 Islands. 



