An integrated concept of the public health services in the African region.

20 years of experience in the African region have demonstrated the need for an adequate network of health services at all levels and particularly at the basic level to ensure the success of any public health program. Without adequate health services many mass campaigns will fail to achieve tangible and lasting results. The conclusion is that only by adopting a unified integrated concept of health services will it be possible to meet the minimum needs of populations in a reasonable amount of time and at minimum costs. Focus in this discussion is on the development of health services in the African region basic health services maternal and child health activities within the basic health services health education services medical care and rehabilitation within the framework of integrated public health services the role of health statistics and health laboratory and epidemiological services in integrated public health services enviornmental health national health planning and the concept of integration in education and training. The objective of this monograph is to determine the most practical and characteristic trends in the 3-fold objective of the African Regional Office - the planning of health services and activities; the development of human resources; and the organization of measures for control of endemic or epidemic diseases or conditions arising from the physical economic or social environment.