Health.

  • Great Britain. Central Office of Information. Reference Division.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Health. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    losis control in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands and nearly £62,000 for the provision of a new hospital for St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. Postwar Developments After the second world war the rapid growth of medical assistance for the developing countries was accelerated by the creation of regional, Common- wealth and international schemes concerned with the welfare of these coun- tries. Britain has been one of the main contributors to such regional schemes as the Colombo Plan and the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan (SCAAP), (see p. 15), and to United Nations agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations International Chil- dren’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (see p. 17). The increasing importance of technical aid has required both a general view of this work by one department, and a single main channel for govern- ment assistance to all overseas countries, whether dependent or independent. In July 1961 the Department of Technical Co-operation (DTC) was estab- lished, with responsibility for ‘co-ordinating, promoting and carrying out arrangements for furnishing countries outside the United Kingdom with technical assistance’. In the medical field, the DTC recruited doctors and specialists for service with overseas governments, sponsored the training of overseas students in British medical schools, provided experts for short-term appointments overseas and supplied specialised equipment for projects of outstanding importance. Other forms of medical assistance were introduced as a result of the Report of the Working Party on Medical Aid to the Develop- ing Countries (1962), headed by Sir Arthur Porritt, including the creation of ‘British Academic Fellowships in Medicine’ (see p. 6). In order that the recommendations of the working party might be im- plemented in close consultation with the medical profession, and that the DTC might have available continuing professional advice on the problems of medical aid, the department established a Medical Advisory Committee, representing a wide range of professional experience. The committee is now responsible to the Ministry of Overseas Development and its terms of reference are: (a) to review at appropriate intervals the technical assistance provided by the Ministry in medical and allied fields, and to make recommendations to the Minister, and (b) by means of sub-committees and panels to assist the Ministry in its work in these fields and advise on particular problems. The Secretariat is provided by the British Council’s Medical Department. Ministry of Overseas Development In 1964 the administration of aid was further centralised by the establish- ment of the Ministry of Overseas Development (ODM), which absorbed the technical aid functions, including medical assistance, previously dis- charged by the overseas departments, the Treasury and the DTC. The ODM supplements the activities of other agencies, and co-ordinates ideas and activities for the benefit of developing countries; it also administers economic and capital aid, and finances schemes of technical assistance for which requests are submitted by the governments of developing countries.