Primary health care was placed at the center of the international health agenda in 1978 through the Declaration of Alma-Ata which was adopted at an International Conference on Primary Health Care (PHC). The Declaration of Alma-Ata states that “Primary health care is essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. It forms an integral part both of the country’s health system, of which it is the central function and main focus, and of the overall social and economic development of the community. It is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and the community with the national health system bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work, and constitutes the first element of a continuing health process”.

The ambitious goal of “Health for All by the Year 2000” was set. The fact that “Health for All” was not fully achieved does not discredit those goals and principles. Insufficient attention to a health systems approach was a root cause of many of the bottlenecks that hampered the achievement of the goals of Alma-Ata. However, the financial limitations placed on public health systems in the two decades after Alma-Ata may have precluded successful results no matter what strategies were adopted.

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Fact sheets

• Return to Alma-Ata (Lancet Article by Dr Margaret Chan on primary health care)

News and press releases

15 October 2008
WHO urges change for ailing health systems
[full text]

16 June 2005
Bid to improve health of the poor
[full text]

Relevant publications and documents

Upcoming meetings and events

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