Though a thorough study of the barefoot doctor system has yet to be carried out, there is no doubt that it represents the first successful, largescale attempt at the delivery of total health care in a developing country cut off from Western civilisation. Alexander Dorozynski discusses the system by which, in the space of a few years, China has managed singlehandededly both to overcome chronic malnutrition and to bring under control most of the epidemic diseases which have plagued it in the past.
