30 MARCH 1929, Page 13

The subsequent steps by which the present organization came into

being need not detain us. It is sufficient to know that it now consists of an Advisory Council, a Health Com- mittee and the Health Section of the Secretariat which carries out the policy of the other two bodies. The budget is shown as £40,000 a year, but this sum is greatly increased by generous donations from the International Health Board of the Rocke- feller Foundation, which contributes £8,500 a year towards statistical inquiries, £5,000 a year for the special epidemiolo- gical intelligence service maintained at Singapore, £4,000 for the formation of Group Conferences and the endowment of scholarships to study the incidence of epidemic diseases in situ, as well as further sums varying from £10,000 to £20,000 per annum for special purposes. With the help of these splendid subventions, amounting in all to upwards of £25,000 a year, the Health Committee has been able to organize a system of study tours in foreign countries which will not only benefit the administrations concerned by the technical knowledge gained by the visiting doctors, but will also help to build up an esprit de corps throughout the medical services of the world and induce habits of co-operation and mutual confidence which cannot but have an important bearing on peace.