Primary health care in the Region of the Americas 40 years after the Alma-Ata Declaration

Abstract

This article reviews the evolution of regional proposals and agreements from the Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978) to the Universal Health Strategy, highlighting how the core tenets of the primary health care strategy have come to be reflected in proposals to strengthen the primary level of care and establish integrated health services networks. Contextual aspects of implementing the strategy within the framework of complex national scenarios are also noted, through a review of some of the milestones of the last 40 years. Factors that hinder implementation of primary health care are described, as well as the advances and the emerging challenges that health systems face in several countries. This article reaffirms the need for a strong primary care level––with coordination and response capacity, close to and involved in the community, and accessible––in order to advance towards realizing the right to health for everyone. It also advocates for practical proposals to relaunch the primary health care strategy 40 years after the Declaration of Alma-Ata.