The huge gaps in health care today must be bridged by following the deliberate policy of primary health care. This is the strategy advocated in the World Health Report 2008: Now More Than Ever, which was launched on 14^th October 2008.

As the World Health Report 2008 reports, inequalities in health outcomes and access to care are greater today than they were in 1978, when the Alma-Alta Declaration was made. This historic “Health For All” Declaration had cited primary health care as being at the centre of measures to protect and promote the health of everyone in the world. It valued health as a fundamental human right.

When primary health care is properly implemented it has been shown to protect against inequities, inefficiencies and unaffordable interventions, which is why Dr Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, describes primary health care as “… a smart way to get health development back on track”.

Primary health care brings balance. It also brings many advantages. It puts people - communities and families - at the centre of health systems. It provides universal coverage in a spirit of equity, social justice and solidarity. Without health, described as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely absence of disease or infirmity”, no human being can begin to realise their potential, nor contribute to their communities and countries.

“A world that can put a man on the moon should be able to put more children under bednets”, said Dr Chan during her speech to the International Conference on Health and Development in Buenos Aires in August 2007. The moral and humanitarian imperative to ensure equitable access to healthcare, including bednets which can prevent people getting malaria, is greater than ever, at a time when there is more wealth around the world and more actors in health than any other sector. What is more, without improving health of populations around the globe, it is unlikely that the Millennium Development Goals endorsed by 189 countries in 2000, will be achieved by their target date of 2015.

Click here to access World Health Report 2008: Now More Than Ever (versions in a few languages), launched on 14^th October 2008, as also relevant press release:
http://www.who.int/whr/2008/en/index.html 

 

 

 

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