An African Medical Service

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31984, 10 May 1969, Page 4

An African Medical Service

Angeli On Runway Ban 7. By Barry Wynne. Senveeir Press. US pp. Of th* many good deed* in a naughty worid whieh are worthy of record. Bury Wynne ha*cbosenoae of the most noteworthy. It an began with far-seeing inspiration of Sir Archibald Maclndoe, and has built up over 20 years into a literally life-giving organisation. It is in fact the African Medical and Research Foundation, which in turn has produced the East African Flying Doctor Service—nd it comprise* Tanganyika and Kenya in its manifold activities. The dustcover describe* this enterprise as “A veritable “United Nations’ of volunteer* of doctors, surgeons and missionaries.” As the story unfolds, the international ehararter of this effort becomes more and more apparent. Sir Archibald, who owned a pleasant estate in Kenya, enlisted the service* of two other young surgeon* Sir Michael wood, an Englishman, and Tom Rees, an American, to help him to imugurite * service which was to embrace vast area* of primitive and inaccessible territory. Of thfe many Missions scattered about the two countries some already have small hospitals, but medteal advice, and, often, the attendance of a fully-qualMed surgeon were needed to reinforce available resources, and so, starting from small beginnings—and always desperately in need of fund*—a radio-controlled service began to be built up, and ha* attracted generous help from almost every available source as time has gone on. The hazards of fiying-doe-tor* all over the country are neces urily considerable, and at toast two of the pilot* are women—one a Frenchwoman, A

. Anne Spoerry, and the other, ■ a German. Leonora Sender. Year by year from 1900, by i which time the project was i well under way, an expense > account to given, and shows, > at best,- a very small credit ; balance; 1903, indeed, was a ’ year of crisis with a deficit of I H3JX» on the estimated bud- ; get The African Goyaro- . ments concerned are striving i to help with the work but . their economies are neeesi sarily limited at this stage : and the author says “One doc- . tor to 30,000 people with a . budget of between 7s and 9* i per head per year are the fun- . damental statistics under . which medicine is dispensed [ in East Africa.” By 1905 there were 42 hos- ■ pitals on the radio network “and a crisis was developing i in the transport section” and ! this has continued despite I many gifts from rich well- . wisher* of aircraft, radios, i etc. The personnel who run the > eervteee, though predomi- , nantly British, include i French. German. Pakistani, i Indian and Kenyan members, i The book contains not only i case-histories and examples l of medical and surgical skill, > but biographical sketches of I many of the helpers, and : interesting, if heart-rending, , accounts of such extraneous , material as the virtual gene- ' ride of that once noble race > the Tutsis, by their tradi- ! tional servants the Hutus. ; The book comprises the I whole history of what must I be one of the finest, and, at I the same time, one of the , neediest, charitable organisei tions in the world, involring ■ the absolute dedication of i many of the worker* who have given up all material ■ rewards to serve it On the > last page addresses are given I to which donations can be ) sent in England, West Ger,imany. the ÜBJL and Kenya. si.