CONVENTION ON TREATMENT OF VENEREAL DISEASES OF SEAMEN, BRUSSELS,DECEMBER 1, 1924

CONVENTION ON TREATMENT OF VENEREAL DISEASES OF SEAMEN, BRUSSELS,DECEMBER 1, 1924 Whole document
Author's Note The International Office of Public Health prepared a draft agreement in 1924 for providing merchant seamen with facilities for the treatment of venereal diseases. A conference was subsequently convened at Brussels, and on December 1, 1924, the draft was approved and signed as a Convention.

The function of preparing "treatment booklets," along with other duties arising out of the Convention, was entrusted to the International Office of Public Health. However, as a result of the decision of the International Health Conference held in New York in June-July 1946, the duties and functions of the International Public Health Office were transferred to the World Health Organization. The duties of WHO in applying the provisions of the Brussels Agreement, as were those previously carried out by OHIP, are: 1. The preparation and publication of a list of venereal-disease treatment centres operating in various ports throughout the world (three editions of this list were issued by OHIP in 1933, 1935 (supplement 1936), and 1939 respectively, and a fourth edition was published by WHO in 1951); 2. The preparation and distribution to national health administrations of a treatment booklet (personal booklet) for the seaman's personal use, to be presented at the different centres for the recording of information on diagnosis and treatment; 3. An evaluation of the degree of success realised in applying the provisions of the International Agreement. (A special Commission-Commissio n de l'Arrangement de Bruxelles-designated by OHIP reported on this subject in 1933 and this question has also be considered by various WHO expert committees and study groups in 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1956.) The First and Second World Health Assemblies, acting on recommendations of the Expert Committee on Venereal Diseases (later entitled Expert Committee on Venereal Infection and Treponematoses), considered the possible revision of the Brussels Agreement. Current methods of application of the Agreement are at present being studied by WHO as a basis for the projected revision. The text of the Agreement is as follows: Text Article 1 The High Contracting Parties undertake to establish and to maintain in each of their principal sea or river ports services for the treatment of venereal diseases, open to all merchant seaman or watermen, without distinction of nationality.

These services shall have a staff of medical specialists and technical equipment kept constantly abreast of the progress of science. They shall be so established and worked as to be readily accessible to those desiring to make use of them. Their size shall be proportionate in each port to the volume of traffic, and they shall dispose of a sufficient number of hospital beds.

Article 2 Medical treatment and the supply of medical necessaries shall be free of charge. The same shall apply to hospital treatment when it is considered necessary by the doctor of the service.

Patients shall receive likewise free of charge the medical supplies necessary for the treatment to be followed on the voyage till the next port of call.

Article 3 Each patient shall receive a card, which shall be strictly personal to himself, and on which he shall be designated by a number only. On the card the doctors of the different treatment centres visited by him shall enter: (a) the diagnosis, with a summary of the clinical particulars noted at the time of the examination; (b) the treatment carried out at the centre; (c) the treatment to be followed on the voyage; (d) the results of serological examinations undertaken in cases of syphilis (Wassermann).

These cards shall be drawn up in the form of the annexed model. They may be modified later by administrative order.

It is desirable, in order to facilitate comparison, that the Wassermann reaction should be carried out as far as possible by one uniform method.

Article 4 Masters of ships and shipowners shall be required to make known to the crews the existence of the services contemplated in the present agreement.

At the time of the vessel's sanitary inspection, or of his visit on board, the sanitary officer shall furnish the crew with notices showing the time and place for consultations.

Article 5 States which are not Parties to the present agreement shall be allowed to accede thereto at their request. Such accession shall be notified through the diplomatic channel to the Belgian Government and by them to the other signatory Governments.

Article 6 The present agreement shall enter into force three months after the date of the exchange of ratifications. Should one of the Contracting Parties denounce the Agreement, the denunciation shall have effect only as regards that Party, and not till one year after the date of the notification of the denunciation to the Belgian Government.

Article 7 In the absence of a contrary decision by one or other of the signatory Powers, the provisions of the present agreement shall not apply to self-governing Dominions, Colonies, Possessions and Protectorates of the High Contracting Parties or territories in respect of which a mandate has been accepted by the Contracting Parties on behalf of the League of Nations.

Nevertheless, the High Contracting Parties reserve the right to accede to the convention, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5, in the name of their self-governing Dominions, Colonies, Possessions or Protectorates or of territories in respect of which they have accepted a mandate on behalf of the League of Nations. They reserve also the right to denounce it separately, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6.

Article 8 The present agreement shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be deposited in Brussels as soon as possible.

In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present agreement and have affixed to it their seals.

Done at Brussels, December 1, 1924, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and of which a certified copy shall be communicated to each Contracting Power.

Ratifications of and Accessions to the Agreement 1. The agreement came into force on December 18, 1930 (Art, 6).

2. The countries and territories which have ratified or adhered to the Agreement are given below by order of date of ratification or adherence¢Ù.

Countries identified by the sign made reservations; these are also listed below.

[ ¢Ù Adherence (accession) is a procedure by which a State, not a signatory to a treaty, may become a party to the treaty. As a result of such a procedure, a non-signatory State may become a party to the treaty to the same extent as, and with all the rights and obligations of, a State which has become a party to the treaty by the procedure of signature and subsequent deposit of an instrument of ratification. -The information given in this section has been furnished by the Belgian Government.] Ratifications: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, August 21, 1925; Monaco, December 17, 1925; Finland, April 21, 1926; Greece, May 18, 1926; Belgium, August 5, 1926; Roumania, December 26, 1927; Denmark, May 1, 1928; Italy, September 1, 1928; France, September 23, 1930; Sweden, February 10, 1931; Chile, March 13, 1935.

Accessions: Canada, August 21, 1925; New Zealand, August 21, 1925; British Guiana, November 4, 1926; British Honduras, November 4, 1926; Ceylon, November 4, 1926; Falkland Islands, November 4, 1926; Fiji, November 4, 1926; Gibraltar, November 4, 1926; Grenada, November 4, 1926; Leeward Islands, November 4, 1926; Mauritius, November 4, 1926; St.

Lucia, November 4, 1926; St. Vincent, November 4, 1926; Seychelles, November 4, 1926; Straits Settlements, November 4, 1926; Trinidad and Tobago, November 4, 1926; Belgian Congo, February 17, 1927; Morocco (French Zone)¢Ù, October 10, 1927; Bahamas, October 28, 1927; British Solomon Islands Protectorate, October 28, 1927; Gambia, October 28, 1927; Gilbert and Ellice Islands, October 28, 1927; Jamaica, October 28, 1927; Iraq, April 14, 1928; Australia, August 23, 1928; Iceland, November 20, 1928; Cyprus, April 17, 1930; Ireland, September 18, 1930; Netherlands, October 10, 1930; Poland, December 11, 1931; Hong Kong, November 21, 1933; North Borneo, June 13, 1934; Algeria, July 9, 1934; Cambodia, July 9, 1934; Cameroons (French Administration), July 9, 1934; French Equatorial Africa, July 9, 1934; French Guinea, July 9, 1934; French Settlements in India, July 9, 1934; French West Africa, July 9, 1934; Guadeloupe, July 9, 1934; Indo-China, July 9, 1934; Madagascar, July 9, 1934; Martinique, July 9, 1934; Tahiti, July 9, 1934; Tunisia, September 23, 1934; Norway, January 18, 1935; Germany¢Ú, April 16, 1937; Barbados, March 29, 1950; Viet Nam, October 9, 1950; Israel, November 28, 1950; Turkey, March 27, 1952; Spain and Spanish colonies, August 15, 1952; Morocco (Spanish Zone)¢Ù, August 15, 1952; India, November 6, 1954; Brazil, February 20, 1955; Pakistan, June 7, 1956.

[ ¢Ù Accession confirmed for Kingdom of Morocco by letter of Minister of Foreign Affairs dated July 13, 1957.

¢Ú Note by Belgian Government: "Re-entered into force with the Federal Republic of Germany following an exchange of notes dated Brussels.

September 24 and October 13, 1953."] Reservations made by Certain Countries The governments of the following countries have made reservations in respect of certain provisions of the Agreement.

France "The French Government declares that the present Agreement shall only apply to Tunisia as regards the port of Tunis." Germany The German Government acceded with the reservation that Germany would provide the arrangements required under the Agreement only in the ports of: Hamburg, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Kiel, Konigsberg, Greifswald, Emden, Rostock and Stettin. Greece "I declare that I sign the present Agreement subject to the same reservations as those made by the Romanian Government." Romania "The Romanian Government undertakes only the following obligations in signing the present agreement: 1. To provide hospital accommodation and treatment for foreign seamen suffering from venereal disease in the hospitals at present existing in the Romanian maritime and river ports, and to accord such seamen the same treatment as that given to patients admitted free of charge.

2. To supply free of charge the drugs and medicines required until the patient reaches the next port.

3. To instruct the local health authorities to draw up the model card (carnet-type) and to note thereon the various particulars provided for in the Agreement.

4. To provide hospital accommodation for all seamen considered by the local doctor to be in need of hospital treatment, without, however, being obliged to establish special health services for seamen." United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland "I, the British representative, declare that my signature applies only to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I reserve the right of each of the British Dominions, Colonies, Oversea Possessions and Protectorates and of each of the territories in respect of which a mandate on behalf of the League of Nations has been accepted by His Britannic Majesty to accede to the Agreement under Article 7." Countries informally implementing the provisions of the Agreement Besides those which are parties to the Agreement, a number of countries and territories have agreed to provide treatment facilities as laid down in the Agreement. Those which have notified WHO that free treatment is provided in certain port clinics are: Aden, Argentina*, Bermuda, British Somaliland, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burma* Dominican Republic*, Ecuador, French Somaliland, Ghana, Guatemala*, Indonesia ¢Ú, Iran, Kenya**, Lebanon*, Malaya, Federation of, Malta, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Panama*, Paraguay*, Philippines*, Portugal**, Reunion, Sarawak, Sierra, Leone**, Switzerland, Tanganyika, Thailand, Union of South Africa**, United Arab Republic, United States of America**, Uruguay*, Venezuela*, Yugoslavia*, Zanzibar**.

[* Out-patient treatment only.] [** Out-patient treatment free; in-patient treatment against payment.] Further information has also been received by WHO that venereal-disease treatment facilities are available for sailors in the ports of the following countries and territories: Treatment against payment Japan, Panama Canal Zone, St. Helena, Togoland, Tonga.

Not specified whether treatment is free or against payment Czechoslovakia, El Salvador, Haiti, Hungary, Mexico, New Hebrides, Peru.