The future of primary healthcare

It is thirty years since the Alma Ata Declaration translated popular expectations of fairer health systems into an international consensus on the need to provide universal access to primary health care (PHC).

During the ensuing years some countries established and consolidated well-organised government health services in which PHC played an important role. Many others were less successful. Some countries have experienced major reversals in life expectancy after a long period of steady improvement and their health systems have deteriorated.

There is a growing concern by national governments and the international community to expand access to PHC and they have committed a lot of money for this purpose. But there have been many major changes in these last three decades that pose big challenges for the future configurations of PHC.

What's New!

Gerald Bloom made a presentation to the Colloquium on Primary Health Care in Times of Globalisation at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp in November 2008 reflecting on the future of primary health care.

Further reading:

Online resource on Building Future Health Systems to deliver Primary Health Care.

Our colleagues from IDS discuss the future of primary health care on the STEPS Centre blog.