Australian Treaty Series

The President of the Argentine Republic, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the President of the Cuban Republic, His Majesty the King of Denmark and Iceland, the President of the Republic of Finland, the President of the French Republic, His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, the President of the Hellenic Republic, His Majesty the King of Italy, His Serene Highness the Prince of Monaco, the President of the Republic of Peru, His Majesty the King of Roumania, His Majesty the King of Sweden, recognising the desirability of common action with the view of giving merchant seamen proper facilities for the treatment of venereal disease, have decided to conclude an agreement with this object and have named as their Plenipotentiaries:

Who, after communicating to each other their Full Powers, found in good and due form, have agreed on the following Articles:

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 seamen or watermen, without distinction of nationality.

These services shall have a staff of medical specialists and a 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.

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.

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.

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 first visit on board, the sanitary officer shall furnish the crew notices showing the time and place for consultations.

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.[1]

The present agreement shall enter into force three months after the date of the exchange of ratifications.[2] 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.

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 or 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 5.

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, the 1st December, 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 be communicated to each contracting Power.

The Procès-Verbal of Signature relating to the Agreement concerning the facilities to be given to seamen of the mercantile marine for the treatment of venereal disease was opened at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 1 December 1924.

At the moment of signing the said instrument, the representatives of France, Peru and Roumania made the following declarations on behalf of their respective Governments:

I. Declaration made by the French Government:

The French Government declares that the present Agreement shall only apply to Tunisia as regards the port of Tunis.

II. Declaration made by the Peruvian Government:

The Peruvian Government declares that, for the moment, the provisions of the present Agreement will only be applied by it in the port of Callao. When it is in a position to extend the application of the Agreement to other of its ports, it will notify the Belgian Government thereof, and the latter will inform the other Contracting Powers.

III. Declaration made by the Roumanian Government:

The Roumanian Government only undertakes the following obligations in signing the present Agreement:

(1) To provide free hospital accommodation and treatment for foreign seamen suffering from venereal disease in the hospitals at present existing in the Roumanian 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.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the undersigned have drawn up the present Procès-Verbal.

DONE at Brussels on December 1, 1924, in a single copy, of which a certified copy will be transmitted to each of the signatory Governments.

Treatment centres Identification number of the centre

1st centre
2nd centre
3rd centre
4th centre
5th centre
6th centre
7th centre
8th centre

This card must be presented, at each centre, to the medical officer in charge, who will himself record upon it all the necessary particulars relating to the disease, to the pathological examinations made and to the treatment

I. The abbreviations B, S, C, are employed to indicate the different affections treated (see Medical-Pharmaceutical Vocabulary). The medical officer in charge of the case will strike out those not affecting the patient.

II. In the column headed "Treatment and observations", the nature and the doses of the drugs prescribed are to be inserted; also the method of administration, the following abbreviations being employed:

V. for the intravenous method.

M. for the intramuscular method.

O. for administration by mouth.

F. for inunction.

III. When a patient embarks, so far as is practicable, he shall be informed of the address of the treatment centre at his port of destination and the hours of consultation.

¹ Blood; cerebro-spinal fluid; pus; serum.

² Wassermann: positive; doubtful; negative.

This card is issued to sailors for the purpose of securing continuous treatment, which is free of cost, at different ports. It should be carefully kept by the sailor. At each of the principal ports there is a centre at which this treatment can be carried on. The address of the treatment centre and the hours of attendance can be learned on application to the Port Sanitary Authority or to any Port or Customs Officer.

Gonorrhoea

Syphilis

Soft chancre

Itch

Phthiriasis

Acute

Chronic

{Balanitis

Complicated {Orchitis

{Cystitis

{Stricture

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Primary indurated chancre

{Roseola

Secondary syphilis {Mucous patches

{Loss of hair (alopecia?)

{Cutaneous syphilis

Tertiary syphilis {Gummata

{Ulceration

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Adenitis {Right

{Left

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Van Swieten's fluid

Permanganate of potash

Calomel prophylactic ointment (Metchnikoff)

Capsules {Copaiba

{Cubebs

Pills {Mercury perchloride 0.01grm.

{Protoiodide of mercury 0.05grm.

Grey oil

Benzoate of mercury

Arsenobenzol (606)

Novarsenobenzol (914)

Mercurial ointment:

1/1 Neapolitan ointment

1/3 blue ointment

Sulphur ointment

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Intravenously

Intramuscularly

Orally

By inunction

[1] Instrument of accession deposited for Australia with effect from 23 August 1928.

[2] The Agreement entered into force generally 21 November 1925.