Sexually Transmitted Disease in Straits Settlements (NNS): A Study of Factors in Society from 1884 Until 1940

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases are a common disease during the British era in the Straits Settlements (NNS) especially in Penang. Therefore, there are several questions that arise on how prostitution causes the transmission of this sexually transmitted disease. The purpose of writing this article is to study and find out the background of venereal diseases in the Straits Settlements and the causative factors of venereal disease transmission in Straits Settlements (NNS). The results showed that there’s five factors were found to be significantly related to the transmission of venereal diseases in the Straits Settlements in 1884 to 1940. Methods: The approach used in this study is a literature review consisting of research and analysis obtained especially from the National Archives of Malaysia (ANM). The main sources obtained from the National Archives of Malaysia are used as the most important reference in this study such as official documents and files analyzed in this study such as the Annual Reports of the Medical Departments, Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States for the year 1937 by Mac Gregor and few documents are used as the main reference. This article also uses secondary sources such as books, journals and related sources. These resources are very important to explain in more depth about the information gathered from the original files and documents and then complete the published article. Results: The results found that there were two types of venereal diseases identified in the Straits Settlements (NNS) in 1884 to 1940 namely Gonorrhea and Syphilis. Over 60% of men and women were diagnosed with an STD sought medical treatments and there’s 40% who are not going to do a medical treatments which leads to the spread of serious sexually transmitted diseases problems in Straits Settlements. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that despite of prostitutions activities that leads to spreads of sexually transmitted disease, there’s a few of factors which come from lack of awareness among residents in Straits Settlements at that time and are a potential etiology causes of spreading this venereal diseases. *Corresponding author: Azilzan Mat Enh, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia Check for updates