The idea behind primary health care is to move the emphasis away from large institutions with professionally trained people and to share the responsibility for health care with ordinary people. The emphasis is not on curing health problems, but on preventing them. Information about health needs to be shared with everyone. Ordinary people who are helped with clear, simple information can prevent and treat many common health problems in their own homes. In 1978, over 150 governments from around the world signed the Alma Ata Declaration to support primary health care in their own countries.
In this issue we hope to open a discussion on how to encourage community based primary health care.
Please find below articles from Footsteps issue 12.
To download a pdf version of Footsteps issue 12, please click here (PDF 4.2 MB).