 Under a law passed in April 1974, the protection hitherto granted to the victims of war or industrial accidents for the purpose of their occupational and social reintegration was extended to all handicapped persons, whatever the cause of their handicap, provided that their capacity to work had been reduced by at least 50%.In the field of health care, various measures were introduced to improve the quality and availability of health care provision.Free hospital care was introduced for 9 million recipients of social relief, while a contributory medical service for 23 million panel patients was introduced.