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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

John L. Parascandola, PhD, Historical Consultant, 11503 Patapsco Drive, Rockville, MD 20852, 301-984-2527, jparascandola@verizon.net

Concerns about venereal disease have typically increased during wartime, and the United States in the Second World War was no exception. In an effort to reduce the spread of venereal disease, the U. S. Public Health Service, with the cooperation of state and local health officials, set up a national program of venereal disease quarantine hospitals. These facilities were known as rapid treatment centers, and by 1944 there were 47 of them in operation. Although some of the centers eventually accepted male patients, the initial impetus for the development of this national network of hospitals was to quarantine infected prostitutes and other “promiscuous” females who were deemed to be a threat to the health of servicemen and essential war workers. Using quarantine powers of the Public Health Service and the states, government officials forcibly detained women infected with syphilis or gonorrhea in these centers and treated them for their disease. Although some objections were raised against the policy, especially on the grounds that it discriminated against women, on the whole it seems to have been accepted by the public as a necessary measure in the defense of national security.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe how the Federal, state and local governments in the United States used quarantine powers to detain and treat in VD rapid treatment centers prostitutes and other women who were deemed a threat to wartime efforts in World War II.
• Analyze the issues of public health needs (especially in wartime)versus civil liberties, and the question of sexual bias, in the VD rapid treatment program.
• Identify possible lessons from the World War II experience with VD that might be relevant for current public health policies.

Keywords: STD Prevention, Public Health Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation