THE current national expenditure for Thealth services represents 6 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP). There is increasing concern in government circles that the expenditure for health services be better coordinated so that a greater benefit be derived from health-service expenditures. At the same time, there is a tendency to increase the amount of money spent for health services, and it is estimated that the proportion of Gross National Product spent for health services could be tripled to 120 billion dollars or $600 per person per year. Two basic concerns are perceived: first, that of efficiency of the system which might be measured in terms of costs-benefit ratio; and, second, that of availability, i.e., that health services be so abundantly located that all persons may avail themselves of these resources. Anderson' has postulated two fundamental characteristics which condition the operation of the entire structure of health services and which are related to the problems of efficiency and availability. These elements, which he characterizes as exceedingly elastic, are (1) the variability of the perception of illness and what people do about it, and (2) the necessary discretionary judgment and responsibility (together with the authority) that is required of physicians, the chief gate-keepers of the system. Taking into consideration both of these fundamental characteristics, the variability of perception of illness and what people do about it is reflected in the fact that, although we have such a relatively large expenditure for health services and have a great deal of knowledge in terms of prevention and cure of disease, there are still large segments of our population, particularly in the lower socioeconomic levels, with higher than average incidences of disease and mortality. The use of nonprofessionals has increased considerably with the advent of government-financed programs to aid the disadvantaged and the poor. Reissman2 estimates that 150,000 nonprofessional positions have been established through poverty and other federal legislation. The use of such nonprofessional aides has been known in the field of public health for a number of years: among the Indians and Eskimos of Canada as of 1958, among farm workers in California in 1961,3 and among the Navajo Indians as early as the middle 1950s. The use of such personnel in overseas programs, often under the title of village worker or community aide, is well-documented.