PHA-Exchange> PAHO: Renewing Primary Health Care in the Americas

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

 from "Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)" <ruglucia at PAHO.ORG> -----

Renewing Primary Health Care in the Americas

A Position Paper of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health 
Organization (PAHO/WHO)

Washington, D.C: PAHO, 2007.ISBN 92 75 12698 4

Available online as PDF file [48p.] at: 
http://www.paho.org/English/AD/THS/primaryHealthCare.pdf 
<http://www.paho.org/English/AD/THS/primaryHealthCare.pdf>  

".........For more than a quarter of a century Primary Health Care (PHC) has 
been recognized as one of the key components of an effective health system. 
Experiences in more-developed and less-developed countries alike have 
demonstrated that PHC can be adapted and interpreted to suit a wide variety of 
political, social, and cultural contexts. A comprehensive review of PHC -both 
in theory and practice-and a critical look at how this concept can 
be "renewed" to better reflect

The current health and development needs of people around the world, is now in 
order. 
 
The goal of this paper is to generate ideas and recommendations to enable such 
a renewal, and to help strengthen and reinvigorate PHC into a concept that can 
lead the development of health systems for the coming quarter century and 
beyond.

There are several reasons for adopting a renewed approach to PHC, including: 
the rise of new epidemiologic challenges that PHC must evolve to address; the 
need to correct weaknesses and inconsistencies present in some of the widely 
divergent approaches to PHC; the development of new tools and knowledge of 
best practices that PHC can capitalize on to be more effective; and a growing 
recognition that PHC is an approach to strengthen society's ability to reduce 
inequities in health.

 In addition, a renewed approach to PHC is viewed as an essential condition 
for meeting the commitments of internationally agreed-upon development goals, 
including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration 
addressing the social determinants of health and achieving the highest 
attainable level of health by everyone........."

 Content:

Executive Summary 

I. Why Renew Primary Health Care? . Table 1: Approaches to Primary Health Care 

II. Building Primary Health Care-Based Health Systems

A. Values Figure 1: Core Values, Principles and Elements in a PHC-Based Health 
System 

B. Principles . 

C. Elements Box 1: Renewing PHC: Implications for Health Services Box 2: PHC-
Based Health Systems and Human Development 

D. What are the Benefits of a PHC-Based Health System?

III. The Way Forward .

A. Learning from Experience . Box 3: Human Resource Challenges in the Americas 

B. Building Coalitions for Change 

C. Strategic Lines of Action 

Appendix A: Methods 

Appendix B: Regional Declaration on the New Orientations for Primary Health 
Care (Declaration of Montevideo) 

Appendix C: Some PHC Milestones in the Americas, 1900-2005 

Appendix D: Facilitators and Barriers to Effective PHC Implementation in the 
Americas 

References

This document was written by James Macinko of the New York University, and 
Hernán Montenegro and Carme Nebot from the Pan American Health 
Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). Its contents benefited 
greatly from the guidance, advice, and discussions resulting from the PAHO 
Working Group on Primary Health Care (PHC), national discussions carried out 
in the countries of the Americas, and the Regional Consultation in Montevideo. 
Members of PAHO Working Group on PHC are: (Experts from outside PAHO) Barbara 
Starfield, Enrique Tanoni, Javier Torres Goitia, Sarah Escorel, Yves Talbot, 
Rodrigo Soto, Alvaro Salas, Jean Jacob, Lilia Macedo, Alcides Lorenzo and 
James Macinko; (Experts from PAHO): Carissa Etienne, Fernando Zacarías, Pedro 
Brito, María Teresa Cerqueira, Sylvia Robles, Juan Manuel Sotelo, Socorro 
Gross, Humberto Jaime Alarid, José Luis Di Fabio, Monica Brana, Carme Nebot, 
and Hernán Montenegro.

 

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