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Primary Health Care

"Primary Health Care is essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally ccessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and the country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. It forms an integral part both of the country's health system, of which it is the central function and main focus, and of the overall social and economic development of the community. It is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work, and constitutes the first element of a continuing health care process."

– (Alma Ata, 1978)

To clarify the confusion that often exists between the terms ‘primary care' and ‘primary health care', Marriott and Mable, 2000 provide the following distinction. Primary Care includes diagnosis, treatment and management of health problems with services delivered predominantly by physicians. Primary Health Care incorporates primary care, but also recognizes and addresses the broader determinants of health including population health, sickness prevention, and health promotion with services provided by physicians and other providers, often in multi-disciplinary teams.