Introduction

On January 23, 1963, the people of Iran brought forth a revolution commonly known as "The White Revolution" by way of the ballot box. H.I.M. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi had ordered a national referendum to be held in which the people of the country would decide upon an integrated program of radical reform. The program, expressed in the referendum in a series of points, reflected the Iranian monarch's mature thinking on the root problems of the nation and offered radical solutions. If the people approved the program, the points called for immediate, specified measures for a revolutionary socio - economic transformation designed to rid the land of the last major feudal vestiges on the path to modern industrialization.

In a wave of popular enthusiasm without precedent in the history of the country, the message got across to the people in every occupation, in every remote mountain or desert hamlet, leading to an overwhelming affirmation, a yes vote for revolution so thunderous that entrenched elements of reactionary opposition were morally disarmed before a drop of blood could be shed.

The central target of the revolution was the rural area, over one million square kilometers of land, dotted by some 50,000 villages containing two-thirds of the Iranian population. These villages, owned by absentee landlords, and virtually sealed off from the changes that had occurred in Iranian cities, had now to be brought into direct contact with modern life. This on the village level means institutional and physical reconstruction into modern communities sharing the basic amenities of Iran's urban centers.

The first and fundamental point of the White Revolution was a basic reform of the land tenure system. The great estates of the absentee landlords on which the farmers lived at a subsistence level as share croppers would be broken up against compensation, while each farm family would receive on easy, long-term installments, ownership of the land upon which they had scratched their livings.

The farmers and their families, almost without exception, were almost totally illiterate, and the rural environment after centuries of neglect was deeply depressed, the rural population suffering from the type of poverty that breeds disease. Thus, a moribund feudal system left a legacy on the land of an illiterate farmer who had been ground down by poverty, weakened either by malaria, trachoma, or a host of intestinal parasites, while the spokesmen of the discredited system of land tenure pointed to this man, asking the question: How can such a man run his own farm without a landlord to drive him on, show him what to do, handle his accounts, and be kind to him when he is sick and hungry?

The answer that the Shah proposed to the people was that the farmer could be healthier, better educated, and more productive with the introduction of modern agriculture. The farmer might well be able to get along without the gentle care of the landlords.

Directly connected to land reform, another major point in the revolution was the formation of an Army of Knowledge, or the Literacy Corps, in which young high school graduates were inducted into the military and sent to the villages rather than remaining in the barracks. After an appropriate course of training of six months duration, they would be sent to the villages to serve the remainder of an 18-month tour of duty as primary school teachers and development workers in the attempt to lead the villagers out of ignorance, make them functionally literate and bring them in touch with the modern world.

After the initial reforms proposed in the referendum had been successfully launched, the Shah added additional points. Until today, there are twelve points of fundamental reform, which have become the foundation of government policy.

The major problem encountered in setting up an effective national program was the immensity of the need in comparison to the resources available. While a youth, who had successfully spent some 12 years at school, might be prepared within four months to teach a child how to read and write and perform other village-level work, the health of millions could only be entrusted to specialists. The number of such specialists was, however, greatly limited.

It was apparent from the outset that the Health Corps, which is a logical extension of the Literacy Corps, would require special organizational innovations, which would make the Corps unique. Never before in the development of any nation have the problems of improving rural health been solved by a similar organizational strategy and approach.

The following is an account of the Health Corps in action over the following years. It is an assessment of the problem that was faced, the strategy employed in overcoming the problem, a sober estimate of the achievements recorded in the operations in the field, and the directions taken as the Health Corps enters a new phase in the intensive economic development of the country as it affects the rural areas.