THE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRINCIPLES
International involvement in community development has not always resulted in good outcomes in developing countries. Over time the global health community has come to understand that improvements in health outcomes are more dependent on the way that programs are delivered rather than the amount of assistance provided. During the 1960s and 70s countries including China, Tanzania, Sudan and India had introduced health care models to their rural, underprivileged populations that were successfully delivering basic but comprehensive care. Keen to understand how, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund studied these models and amalgamated the key underpinnings of the programs, thus developing the Primary Health Care (PHC) model.
This model is revolutionary, in that it seeks to emphasize health as a fundamental human right for all and is built on the premise that in order for improvements in health to be made, basic needs must first be met. This idea embraces a more holistic view of health, which moves away from the limited medical model and towards a definition that recognizes health as an outcome of social and economic determinants.
The PHC concept was first articulated in the Alma Ata Declaration, which set out a list of principles devised to provide governments and health and development workers worldwide with a framework to guide how health services should be organized. Here at CNP/Kore Timoun we are committed to using these principles to guide our work.
The PHC principles are:
