|
Launch of
World Health Report 2008
“Primary Health Care: Now more than ever”
23 October 2008
Dr Samlee Plianbangchang,
Regional Director, WHO, South-East Asia Regional Office would be launching
the World Health Report 2008 entitled “Primary Health Care: Now more than
ever” on 23 October’08. This World Health Report revisits the ambitious
vision of primary health care as a set of values and principles for guiding
the development of health systems. The Report represents an important
opportunity to draw on the lessons of the past, consider the challenges that
lie ahead, and identify major avenues for health systems to narrow the
intolerable gaps between aspiration and implementation.
"Rather than improving their response capacity and
anticipating new challenges, health systems seems to be drifting from one
short-term priority to another, increasingly fragmented and without a clear
sense of direction," says World Health Report 2008, “Primary Health Care
– Now More Than Ever”. With the publication of the report on 14 October in
its Headquarters, WHO hopes to start a global conversation on the
effectiveness of primary health care (PHC) as a way of reorienting national
health systems.
Primary health care was officially launched in 1978, when
WHO member states signed the Alma Ata Declaration. That was 30 years ago. A
few countries pursued the ideal; however, primary health care was
misconstrued as poor care for poor people. It was also seen as having an
exclusive focus on first-level care. Some dismissed it as utopian and others
thought it a threat to the medical establishment.
PHC, actually refers to
strengthening of health systems, as also do programmes
such as GAVI Health Systems Strengthening, GFATM (Global Fund for AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria) and IHP (International Health Partnership).
Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive PHC approach to enhance
implementation of many disease control/elimination/eradication programmes.
The Report proposes four sets of reforms that reflect a
convergence between the values of primary health care, the expectations of
citizens and the common health performance challenges that cut across all
contexts. They include:
 universal coverage reforms that ensures health
equity, social justice and the end of exclusion, primarily by moving towards
universal access and social health protection;
service delivery reforms that re-organize health services around
people’s needs and expectations, to make them more socially relevant and
responsive producing better outcomes;
public policy reforms by integrating public
health actions with primary care, healthy public policies and strengthening
national and transnational public health interventions; and
leadership
reforms by the inclusive,
participatory, negotiation-based leadership indicated by the complexity of
contemporary health systems.
By aiming at these four primary health care goals,
national health systems can become more coherent and efficient, fairer and
vastly more effective. As 70% (the range being 10-80%) of all health
resources come from domestic funds in SEAR member countries, most countries
have the ability to start moving towards and enjoying the benefits of primary
health care.
Responding to the need of revitalizing Primary Health
Care, a Regional Conference was held from 6-8 August 2008 in Jakarta with
several recommendations to WHO (hyperlinked to PHC Conference article). The
Regional Committee meeting in September endorsed the Regional conference’s
recommendations and requested the Regional Director to support countries’
capacity development for strengthening equitable health systems; in
formulating healthy public policy to revitalize primary health care;
facilitate cooperation and exchange of experiences and facilitate
collaboration at all levels among health development partners.
|
