462 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



It is apparent that the policy of any medical department should 

 be closely co-ordinated with other government and mission activi- 

 ties directed to the development of native society. In particular 

 it cannot be over-emphasized how great is the importance of a 

 thorough knowledge of tribal custom and native attitudes. The 

 improvement of social conditions depends largely on the introduc- 

 tion of measures in a manner which meets with general approval 

 and not with passive resistance. Hence the order of introduction of 

 social measures among different tribes may have to be varied on 

 account of their different traditions. Divergences of organization 

 are inevitable even in one territory, and while approval may be 

 given to a general plan for social amelioration, the detailed mode 

 of execution must be left to those with intimate local knowledge. 

 It is therefore imperative that administrative officers, who in the 

 end are the men responsible for the social welfare of their people, 

 should have that ability to obtain and maintain the confidence of 

 the people under their control which comes only from such know- 

 ledge. 



Since proposed measures of hygiene are apt to be viewed with 

 indifference unless they can be shown also to have economic 

 advantages, as in the case of the use of manure and domestic 

 refuse as soil fertilizers, the co-operation of medical and agricul- 

 tural workers is important, and calls for deliberate organization. 

 Public works construction, education, forestry, and water-supplies 

 may also have direct bearing on questions of native health. Indeed 

 every activity of government is involved. 



The necessary co-operation might be attained through social 

 development committees consisting of the heads of the various 

 departments concerned, which would secure a co-ordinated expan- 

 sion of social services. An example of this form of development is 

 the Nyasaland Native Welfare Committee, set up in 1935, and 

 including representatives of the administrative, medical, educa- 

 tion, agriculture, and forestry departments. Another way would 

 be to follow the system adopted in India and elsewhere of appoint- 

 ing a secretary to government who would be responsible for all 

 departments dealing with the social services {see Chapter I). 



The importance of health and medicine in all parts of Africa 

 makes it necessary to devote a large part of this volume to the 



