 House building became a major social priority, designed to eliminate homelessness and to replace the shanty towns created by Libya's growing urbanization.The health sector was also expanded; by 1978, Libya had 50 per cent more hospitals than it had in 1968, while the number of doctors had increased from 700 to over 3000 in that decade.Malaria was eradicated, and trachoma and tuberculosis greatly curtailed.