Dr C J Austin reported in 1951 that "Leprosy appears to be a rather minor problem in the Western Solomons where one leprosy worker hazarded a doubt whether they had more than 60 cases in the whole of the Western group. If that is so, the district appears to be already fairly well catered for by the Methodist Mission Leprosy Station at Ozama on Vella Lavella with a present population of 19 patients, and the Seventh Day Adventist Leprosy Village at Kukudu, Kolabagara, at present housing 17 patients; both of these are capable of extension. (C J Austin, Leprosy in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (Noumea: South Pacific Commission, 1952, p 4)