Health for all beyond 2000: the demise of the Alma-Ata Declaration and primary health care in developing countries

Abstract

Access to basic health services was affirmed as a fundamental human right in the Declaration of Alma-Ata in 1978. The model formally adopted for providing healthcare services was "primary health care" (PHC), which involved universal, community-based preventive and curative services, with substantial community involvement. PHC did not achieve its goals for several reasons, including the refusal of experts and politicians in developed countries to accept the principle that communities should plan and implement their own healthcare services. Changes in economic philosophy led to the replacement of PHC by "Health Sector Reform", based on market forces and the economic benefits of better health. It is time to abandon economic ideology and determine the methods that will provide access to basic healthcare services for all people.