'Health for All' Alma-Ata Declaration--an elusive Holy Grail.

Primary health care in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: from Alma-Ata to Doha.

The celebration in Doha of the 30th anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration at the International Conference on Primary Health Care renewed the commitment of the Eastern Mediterranean Region to primary health care as the tool for better health. The principles agreed at Alma-Ata in 1978 apply as much now as they did before. The event provided an opportunity for the Eastern Mediterranean countries...

Stephen Gillam primary health care ? Is the declaration of Alma Ata still relevant

From Alma Ata to Millennium Development Goals: to What Extent Has Equity Been Achieved?

Equity was a core value in the Alma Ata declaration on PHC. However, the interpretation of equity varied and its application became difficult. Equity goals and objectives have often been rhetoric rather than practical. Policy reforms since Alma Ata have been dominated by the neo-liberal economic ideology, which does not include equity as its core value. After 25 years, reforms such as the essen...

Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Not a “Holy Grail” but a Cup at Least Half; Comment on “Food Taxes: A New Holy Grail?”

In this commentary, we argue for the implementation of a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax as a tool to help address the global obesity and diabetes epidemics. Consumption of SSBs has increased exponentially over the last several decades, a trend that has been an important contributor to the obesity and diabetes epidemics. Prior evidence demonstrates that a SSB tax will likely decrease SSB con...

[Primary health care and the millennium development goals].

Member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) met in Alma Ata (8-12 September 1978) to define and advocate the implementation of primary health care (PHC) worldwide, above all, in developing countries, which had a real need to review their strategies for meeting the health needs of their populations. They did not suspect that 20 years later the vision they displayed would remain unden...