Achieving Health for All: Primary Health Care in Action

The Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 marked a potential turning point in  global health, signaling a commitment to primary health care that could  have improved the safety of air, food, water, roads, homes, and  workplaces in all 180 countries that signed it. Unfortunately, progress  in many countries stalled in the 1980s. The declaration was, however,  embraced by a number of countries, where its implementation led to  substantial improvement in citizen health. Achieving Health for All  reveals how, inspired by Alma-Ata, the governments of seven countries  executed comprehensive primary health care systems, deploying new cadres  of community-based health workers to bring relevant services to  ordinary households. Drawing on a set of narrative case studies from  Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and  Vietnam,the book explains how a primary health care focus succeeded in  improving population health. The book also conclusively demonstrates  that comprehensive, multisector, community-controlled, and  population-level primary health care is a viable strategy that, against  the odds, has led to sustainable, scalable good health at lower cost.  Bringing together a group of experts to analyze the forty-year legacy of  the Alma-Ata Declaration, Achieving Health for All is a fascinating  look at the work needed to transform nations from places that make  people sick to places where they stay healthy. An inspiring array of  lessons learned along the way shows how readers can make policies that  support the health of all people.