Health: In 1968 the Public Health Service was reorganized into three separate health agencies: the Health Services and Mental Health Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health -Service, including the Food and Drug Administration, one of the agencies originally transferred into the Federal Security Agency in 1939. These three health agencies are directed by the assistant secretary for health and scientific affairs, who is aided by the surgeon general of the Public Health Service.
A health manpower report prepared by the National Commission of Community Health Services showed that the U.S. hospitals and health organizations were maintaining the ratio of 150 doctors per 100,000 population only by filling out one-fifth of their needs with physicians from other countries. The demand for health care had also created serious shortages of nurses and other paramedical personnel. Among the solutions being suggested were new methods of health care organization and government support for new or expanded education programs in the health sciences. |
