CHAPTER XV 

 HEALTH AND MEDICINE— GENERAL 



INTRODUCTION 



CERTAIN general considerations regarding medical policy are 

 necessary in order to indicate the close relation of health and 

 medicine to other subjects. In Africa, as elsewhere, much of 

 medical activity in the past has been devoted to the treatment of 

 disease rather than the promotion of health, and there has been 

 a tendency to separate work into categories such as curative medi- 

 cine, preventive medicine, and other social services. To-day, 

 however, expert opinion appears to be in agreement as to the 

 close interdependence of all aspects of medicine, though expedi- 

 ency must sometimes dictate the creation of arbitrary divisions. 

 From this point of view the medical policy, especially in rural 

 Africa, must be considered in relation to (i) the causes of disease 

 and disability (2) the protection of individuals and the community, 

 from these causes, and (3) the provision of adequate living con- 

 ditions whereby health may be maintained. Emphasis on any 

 one of these aspects cannot produce permanent beneficial results 

 unless proportionate attention is devoted to the others. For 

 example, an improved standard of living, embracing such desirable 

 features as adequate and balanced diet, good housing and water- 

 supply and sound agricultural development, cannot alone protect 

 the community from disease. On the other hand, the study of the 

 major tropical diseases has now advanced to a point where nearly 

 all are curable, so that many authorities now urge that increasing 

 attention should be devoted to the preventive aspects of medicine, 

 and the development of social services. Dr. A. R. Paterson (1928b) 

 in Kenya, Dr. Kauntze (1935) in Uganda and many other authori- 

 ties have emphasized the great importance of housing and sanitary 

 conditions. 



