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The article focuses on the Bandoeng Conference of 1937. Particular attention is given to the affect the conference had on rural health and development. The author reports that the conference, increasingly regarded as a milestone event, unleashed a pouring of interwar interest in rural hygiene. Mainly due to the leadership of the League of Nations, rural hygiene became a key focus in international politics, as world leaders drew attention to the overwhelming health needs of poor rural populations in Europe and the world. These rural populations were dealing with disease and mortality, restricted access to modern medical providers and the benefits of public health practitioners, as well as struggling with the devastation of the worldwide economic depression.