To be healthy it is necessary to have a safe healthy surroundings, to drink clean water, to eat nourishing food, to have a good standard of personal cleanliness, to be immunized against certain diseases, and to be able to relate happily with other people. In developing countries some of these things are difficult to achieve because of lack of money and knowledge, but nevertheless there is much that people could do for themselves with just a little help and direction from health workers.
The Government tries to help people keep healthy in many ways by providing services, and to do this the Ministry of Health functions at the headquarters of the Ministry, at the provincial level and at the district levels. The authority dealing directly with the community is known as the local authority, and it might obtain most of its money from local taxes. Also working for the health of the community are private or voluntary agencies such as missions. Some of the services provided deal mostly with the surroundings or environment, while others deal with people. Examples are:
1. Provision of good housing, and advice for people on construction of their own homes.
2. Provision of safe, clean water supplies.
3. Getting rid of human excreta and rubbish safely.
4. The control and treatment of infections and other diseases.
5. Protection of public food supplies.
6. Town and village planning.
7. The control of insects and rats.
8. Provision of services for pregnant women and for young children.
9. Improvement of the health of schoolchildren.
10. Help for people with handicaps such as blindness, or with crippling defects such as the after-effects of poliomyelitis.
11. Visits to the chronic sick or follow-up of cases from hospital to their homes.
12. Provision of services for people at work.
However, such services are not provided exclusively by health workers in a Ministry of Health. Other Ministries, such as those Community Development, Education, Labour, Agriculture, and Veterinary Services, also have a very important part to play in improving community health.
Health Services Found In Developing Countries
In most developing countries where the majority of people live in rural areas the basic health services carried out from a health centre. These basic services are:
1. Community nursing and home visiting.
2. Curative work for the sick.
3. Health Education.
4. Control of communicabe diseases.
5. Maternal and child health.
6. Maintenance of records and collection of health statistics.
7. Environmental sanitation.
However, many countries can now include mental health, and a services for the old and for those with chronic sickness. In the health centre which provides such a variety of services there are many auxiliaries supervised by a few professional workers who have work as a team. This team-work on the part of auxiliaries supervised by a few professionals is a feature of developing countries, and in fact team-work is now also a feature of group practice in the new health centres of developed countries.
