Smerig, maar niet saai

Is dat niet saai, zo'n archief? Nee, dat is niet saai, zeker niet als je doos 9440 van de SCAP/GHQ records in Washington DC opentrekt, of microfiche 05022, waar hetzelfde opstaat, in de parlementsbibliotheek in Tokyo. Het betreft een verslagje van de hand van Theodore Spaet, een toen 27 jarige Amerikaan die als inspecteur van het ziekenhuiswezen gestationeerd was in Nagano.

"Common to all was miserable sanitation, in places so bad that even the patients were disgusted by it. Rotting garbage on the ground outside the wards was an almost universal sight, toilets were poorly kept, and kitchens were swarming with flies. The preparation of food was extremely sloppy, and in some of the stored food were hoards of maggots. Another universal phenomenon was the practice of patients cooking their own food in spite of the fact that they were allegedly getting their full ration from the hospital, a ration which is theoretically adequate for the sedentary individual a tuberculosis patient is.

These are a few of the more outstanding malpractices common to all the sanatoria; there were some of an even more serious nature at individual institutions. At the Ueda Branch of the matsumoto National sanatorium it was found that food intended for the patients was finding its way to other channels. This shameful situation had progressed so far that many patients found it necessary to provide and prepare the majority of their food themselves. In this particular sanatorium the building had previously housed a brothel, but had been sold to the ccentral government when abolition of licensed prostitution became law. The former proprietor of the brothel, however, was made chief of the board of trustees of the new hospital, possibly owing to his great civic virtues.

In the Nagano National Sanatorium, by far the largest in the prefecture, it is common for the patients to do their own laundry, and they must do many other tasks that completely negate the effectiveness of any bad rest they have in their “spare time”. This in spite of an abundance of nurses and other employees."

In 1992 stierf de Theodore Spaet, inmiddels een wereldberoemd hematoloog, in New York. Dat is jammer, want ik had hem graag willen vragen wat hij bedoelde met "even the patients" in de eerste zin. Die kans is mooi verkeken.