Health > Intergovernmental conference of Far-Eastern countries on rural hygiene : preparatory papers : report of French Indo-China

10
of race and interests as well as of the pre-existing administrative
divisions. Improved communications have done little to change
the administrative structure, the basic unit of which is still
the province. The organisation of health services under five
local directorates corresponding to the five countries is still
inevitable; an attempt which was made, for reasons of economy,
to group the Cochin-China and Cambodian services under a
single directorate very soon resulted in the deputing of powers
of sub-director to the senior Cambodian medical officer, and,
shortly afterwards, the reconstitution of the two independent
directorates.
Unity is adequately ensured by the Inspector-General, who
is attached to the central administration of the Union, co¬
ordinates the work and is empowered to make the necessary
technical suggestions to the heads of the local administrations.
Similarly, it is the Inspector-General who is, in the mam,
responsible for the co-ordination of the activities of the health
services proper with those of the scientific services (Pasteur
Institutes) and the other services concerned with the welfare
of the native population (agriculture, public works, public
instruction). There is no permanent machinery for practical
co-operation between these various departments, and one
of the fortunate results of the Conference initiated by the
League Health Committee will have been the emphasis it has
laid upon the value of such co-operation by bringing together
the members of the various national delegations and thus
leading to exchanges of views between the representatives
of services that are working on parallel lines and have much
to gain from concerted action.
It is scarcely to be expected that there will be any substantial
increase in the appropriations made for the health services,
which, in certain budgets, account for 10% of the total
expenditure (see below, Budgets). The regular increase in the
population at the rate of approximately one million every
five years necessitates ever greater efforts as regards both the
organisation of medical care and the application of preventive
measures. A plan of action based upon a clear conception of
what is and is not practicable within the limits of the available
funds had therefore perforce to be drawn up.