Primary health care: A global imperative for radical restructuring of health care

Primary health care (PHC) is a conceptual approach to framing development of health services that affirms the need for individuals and communities to retain significant decisional authority in the organization and operation of health resources. Further, PHC provides a useful heuristic for planning, implementing and evaluating a broad range of health promotion activities. PHC emphasizes reliance on the talent, enthusiasm and creative energies of community members and the expectation for self-reliance and self-determination by individuals in bringing health care as close as possible to the places where people live and work. The PHC movement endorses the use of practical, sustainable and socially congruent healing methods and health technology as a critical step toward the achievement of affordable and accessible health care. Practitioners of PHC understand that healthy people need healthy environments. Such environments are based on political commitment, coordination among health relevant sectors, and policies that support independence, peace, and disarmament as necessary for accelerating social and economic development. [Key words: primary health care, community participation, health promotion, global health leadership]