International humanitarian law, whose purpose is to attenuate the evils of war, has been intimately bound from its earliest days to doctors and all others whose mission in life is to heal—the noblest of all professions. The fact is that this law originated from the need to make up for the deficiencies of military medical services and protect those wounded in war. Since then, the law has gone far beyond that framerwork and has extended its protection and solicitude to many other victims of conflicts and also, in peacetime, to victims of day-to-day life—sick people. An essentially medical element was the basis of the law, and continues to be a major element, referred to by some as “medical law”.

Right from the very beginning, the founders of the Red Cross were interested in improving military medical equipment; this remained a concern of the movement for many years (1863–1925). Later, attention was devoted to standardizing this equipment (1925–1934). Then, at a third stage, the Red Cross concentrated on studying and developing military medical equipment (1934–1938).

The following circular letter was sent by the ICRC and League chief medical officers to all the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with a view to rationalizing consignments of medicaments and medical material for emercency medical actions. The circular letter contains practical advice and precise rules to be observed when selecting and packaging emergency relief medicaments.

The success of emergency action in cases of natural disaster or armed conflict depends of the degree of preparedness of personnel and material: it is not necessarily proportional to the number of volunteers or the volume of relief supplies hastily dispatched.

The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, visited the ICRC on 17 June. He was accompanied by Mrs. Gandhi and various officials: Mr. Romesh Bandhari, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Arun Singh, Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. C. R. Gharekhan, Additional Secretary, Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Thomas Abraham, ambassador to Bern, and Mr. M. Dubey, ambassador and permanent representative for India to Geneva.

The President of the ICRC, Mr. Alexandre Hay, accompanied by Mrs. Hay and Mr. F.-P. Küng, ICRC Delegate General for Europe and North America, spent 7 and 8 June in Liechtenstein. On 8 June, they attended the Annual General Meeting of the Liechtenstein Red Cross, which marked that Society's fortieth anniversary. It was a rather special and not unemotional occasion, as Princess Gina, the President of the National Society, officially resigned her office in favour of Princess Maria-Aglaë.

In May and June Mr. Jean-Marc Bornet, ICCR delegate-general for Africa, conducted a series of missions taking him first to Mozambique and then to Zimbabwe, the Republic of South Africa and Angola.