The World Health Report 2008: Primary Health Care PDF

The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care SERVICE DELIVERY REFORMS Now PUBLIC...

The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care SERVICE DELIVERY REFORMS Now PUBLIC UNIVERSAL POLICY COVERAGE REFORMS REFORMS LEADERSHIP More REFORMS Than Ever  The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care Now More Than Ever  WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data The world health report 2008 : primary health care now more than ever. 1.World health – trends. 2.Primary health care – trends. 3.Delivery of health care. 4.Health policy. I.World Health Organization. ISBN 978 92 4 156373 4 (NLM classification: W 84.6) ISSN 1020-3311 © World Health Organization 2008 All rights reserved. Publications of the World Health Organization can be obtained from WHO Press, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (tel.: +41 22 791 3264; fax: +41 22 791 4857; e-mail: [email protected]). Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications – whether for sale or for noncommercial distribution – should be addressed to WHO Press, at the above address (fax: +41 22 791 4806; e-mail: [email protected]). The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters. All reasonable precautions have been taken by the World Health Organization to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall the World Health Organization be liable for damages arising from its use. Information concerning this publication can be obtained from: World Health Report World Health Organization 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] Copies of this publication can be ordered from: [email protected] The World Health Report 2008 was produced under the overall direction of Tim Evans (Assistant Director-General) and Wim Van Lerberghe (editor-in-chief). The principal writing team consisted of Wim Van Lerberghe, Tim Evans, Kumanan Rasanathan and Abdelhay Mechbal. Other main contributors to the drafting of the report were: Anne Andermann, David Evans, Benedicte Galichet, Alec Irwin, Mary Kay Kindhauser, Remo Meloni, Thierry Mertens, Charles Mock, Hernan Montenegro, Denis Porignon and Dheepa Rajan. Organizational supervision of the report was provided by Ramesh Shademani. Contributions in the form of boxes, figures and data analysis came from: Alayne Adams, Jonathan Abrahams, Fiifi Amoako Johnson, Giovanni Ancona, Chris Bailey, Robert Beaglehole, Henk Bekedam, Andre Biscaia, Paul Bossyns, Eric Buch, Andrew Cassels, Somnath Chatterji, Mario Dal Poz, Pim De Graaf, Jan De Maeseneer, Nick Drager, Varatharajan Durairaj, Joan Dzenowagis, Dominique Egger, Ricardo Fabregas, Paulo Ferrinho, Daniel Ferrante, Christopher Fitzpatrick, Gauden Galea, Claudia Garcia Moreno, André Griekspoor, Lieve Goeman, Miriam Hirschfeld, Ahmadreza Hosseinpoor, Justine Hsu, Chandika Indikadahena, Mie Inoue, Lori Irwin, Andre Isakov, Michel Jancloes, Miloud Kaddar, Hyppolite Kalambaye, Guy Kegels, Meleckidzedeck Khayesi, Ilona Kickbush, Yohannes Kinfu, Tord Kjellstrom, Rüdiger Krech, Mohamed Laaziri, Colin Mathers, Zoe Matthews, Maureen Mackintosh, Di McIntyre, David Meddings, Pierre Mercenier, Pat Neuwelt, Paolo Piva, Annie Portela, Yongyut Ponsupap, Amit Prasad, Rob Ridley, Ritu Sadana, David Sanders, Salif Samake, Gerard Schmets, Iqbal Shah, Shaoguang Wang, Anand Sivasankara Kurup, Kenji Shibuya, Michel Thieren, Nicole Valentine, Nathalie Van de Maele, Jeanette Vega, Jeremy Veillard and Bob Woollard. Valuable inputs in the form of contributions, peer reviews, suggestions and criticisms were received from the Regional Directors and their staff, from the Deputy Director-General, Anarfi Asamoah Bah, and from the Assistant Directors-General. The draft report was peer reviewed at a meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, with the following participants: Azrul Azwar, Tim Evans, Ricardo Fabrega, Sheila Campbell-Forrester, Antonio Duran, Alec Irwin, Mohamed Ali Jaffer, Safurah Jaafar, Pongpisut Jongudomsuk, Joseph Kasonde, Kamran Lankarini, Abdelhay Mechbal, John Martin, Donald Matheson, Jan De Maeseneer, Ravi Narayan, Sydney Saul Ndeki, Adrian Ong, Pongsadhorn Pokpermdee, Thomson Prentice, Kumanan Rasanathan, Salman Rawaf, Bijan Sadrizadeh, Hugo Sanchez, Ramesh Shademani, Barbara Starfield, Than Tun Sein, Wim Van Lerberghe, Olga Zeus and Maria Hamlin Zuniga. The report benefited greatly from the inputs of the following participants in a one-week workshop in Bellagio, Italy: Ahmed Abdullatif, Chris Bailey, Douglas Bettcher, John Bryant, Tim Evans, Marie Therese Feuerstein, Abdelhay Mechbal, Thierry Mertens, Hernan Montenegro, Ronald Labonte, Socrates Litsios, Thelma Narayan, Thomson Prentice, Kumanan Rasanathan, Myat Htoo Razak, Ramesh Shademani, Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Wim Van Lerberghe, Jeanette Vega and Jeremy Veillard. WHO working groups provided the initial inputs into the report. These working groups, of both HQ and Regional staff included: Shelly Abdool, Ahmed Abdullatif, Shambhu Acharya, Chris Bailey, James Bartram, Douglas Bettcher, Eric Blas, Ties Boerma, Robert Bos, Marie-Charlotte Boueseau, Gui Carrin, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Yves Chartier, Alessandro Colombo, Carlos Corvalan, Bernadette Daelmans, Denis Daumerie, Tarun Dua, Joan Dzenowagis, David Evans, Tim Evans, Bob Fryatt, Michelle Funk, Chad Gardner, Giuliano Gargioni, Gulin Gedik, Sandy Gove, Kersten Gutschmidt, Alex Kalache, Alim Khan, Ilona Kickbusch, Yunkap Kwankam, Richard Laing, Ornella Lincetto, Daniel Lopez-Acuna, Viviana Mangiaterra, Colin Mathers, Michael Mbizvo, Abdelhay Mechbal, Kamini Mendis, Shanthi Mendis, Susan Mercado, Charles Mock, Hernan Montenegro, Catherine Mulholland, Peju Olukoya, Annie Portela, Thomson Prentice, Annette Pruss-Ustun, Kumanan Rasanathan, Myat Htoo Razak, Lina Tucker Reinders, Elil Renganathan, Gojka Roglic, Michael Ryan, Shekhar Saxena, Robert Scherpbier, Ramesh Shademani, Kenji Shibuya, Sameen Siddiqi, Orielle Solar, Francisco Songane, Claudia Stein, Kwok-Cho Tang, Andreas Ullrich, Mukund Uplekar, Wim Van Lerberghe, Jeanette Vega, Jeremy Veillard, Eugenio Villar, Diana Weil and Juliana Yartey. The editorial production team was led by Thomson Prentice, managing editor. The report was edited by Diana Hopkins, assisted by Barbara Campanini. Gaël Kernen assisted on graphics and produced the web site version and other electronic media. Lina Tucker Reinders provided editorial advice. The index was prepared by June Morrison. Administrative support in the preparation of the report was provided by Saba Amdeselassie, Maryse Coutty, Melodie Fadriquela, Evelyne Omukubi and Christine Perry. Photo credits: Director-General’s photograph: WHO (p. viii); introduction and overview: WHO/Marco Kokic (p. x); chapters 1–6: Alayne Adams (p. 1); WHO/Christopher Black (p. 23); WHO/Karen Robinson (p. 41); International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies/John Haskew (p. 63); Alayne Adams (p. 81); WHO/Thomas Moran (p. 99). Design: Reda Sadki Layout: Steve Ewart and Reda Sadki Figures: Christophe Grangier Printing Coordination: Pascale Broisin and Frédérique Robin-Wahlin Printed in Switzerland The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever Contents Message from the Director-General viii Introduction and Overview xi Responding to the challenges of a changing world xii Growing expectations for better performance xiii From the packages of the past to the reforms of the future xiv Four sets of PHC reforms xvi Seizing opportunities xviii Chapter 1. The challenges of a changing world 1 Unequal growth, unequal outcomes 2 Longer lives and better health, but not everywhere 2 Growth and stagnation 4 Adapting to new health challenges 7 A globalized, urbanized and ageing world 7 Little anticipation and slow reactions 9 Trends that undermine the health systems’ response 11 Hospital-centrism: health systems built around hospitals and specialists 11 Fragmentation: health systems built around priority programmes 12 Health systems left to drift towards unregulated commercialization 13 Changing values and rising expectations 14 Health equity 15 Care that puts people first 16 Securing the health of communities 16 Reliable, responsive health authorities 17 Participation 18 PHC reforms: driven by demand 18 Chapter 2. Advancing and sustaining universal coverage 23 The central place of health equity in PHC 24 Moving towards universal coverage 25 Challenges in moving towards universal coverage 27 Rolling out primary-care networks to fill the availability gap 28 Overcoming the isolation of dispersed populations 30 Providing alternatives to unregulated commercial services 31 Targeted interventions to complement universal coverage mechanisms 32 Mobilizing for health equity 34 Increasing the visibility of health inequities 34 Creating space for civil society participation and empowerment 35 iii The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever Chapter 3. Primary care: putting people first 41 Good care is about people 42 The distinctive features of primary care 43 Effectiveness and safety are not just technical matters 43 Understanding people: person-centred care 46 Comprehensive and integrated responses 48 Continuity of care 49 A regular and trusted provider as entry point 50 Organizing primary-care networks 52 Bringing care closer to the people 53 Responsibility for a well-identified population 53 The primary-care team as a hub of coordination 55 Monitoring progress 56 Chapter 4. Public policies for the public’s health 63 The importance of effective public policies for health 64 System policies that are aligned with PHC goals 66 Public-health policies 67 Aligning priority health programmes with PHC 67 Countrywide public-health initiatives 68 Rapid response capacity 68 Towards health in all policies 69 Understanding the under-investment 71 Opportunities for better public policies 73 Better information and evidence 73 A changing institutional landscape 74 Equitable and efficient global health action 76 Chapter 5. Leadership and effective government 81 Governments as brokers for PHC reform 82 Mediating the social contract for health 82 Disengagement and its consequences 83 Participation and negotiation 85 Effective policy dialogue 86 Information systems to strengthen policy dialogue 86 Strengthening policy dialogue with innovations from the field 89 Building a critical mass of capacity for change 90 Managing the political process: from launching reform to implementing it 92 Chapter 6. The way forward 99 Adapting reforms to country context 100 High-expenditure health economics 101 Rapid-growth health economies 103 Low-expenditure, low-growth health economies 105 Mobilizing the drivers of reform 108 Mobilizing the production of knowledge 108 Mobilizing the commitment of the workforce 110 Mobilizing the participation of people 110 iv  Contents List of Figures Figure 1. The PHC reforms necessary to refocus health systems xvi Figure 3.1 The effect on uptake of contraception of the 42 towards health for all reorganization of work schedules of rural health centres in Niger Figure 3.2 Lost opportunities for prevention of mother-to-child 45 Figure 1.1 Selected best performing countries in reducing under- 2 transmission of HIV (MTCT) in Côte d’Ivoire: only a tiny fraction of five mortality by at least 80%, by regions, 1975–2006 the expected transmissions are actually prevented Figure 1.2 Factors explaining mortality reduction in Portugal, 3 Figure 3.3 More comprehensive health centres have better 49 1960–2008 vaccination coverage Figure 1.3 Variable progress in reducing under-five mortality, 3 Figure 3.4 Inappropriate investigations prescribed for simulated 53 1975 and 2006, in selected countries with similar rates in 1975 patients presenting with a minor stomach complaint in Thailand Figure 1.4 GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth in 169 4 Figure 3.5 Primary care as a hub of coordination: networking 55 countries, 1975 and 2005 within the community served and with outside partners Figure 1.5 Trends in GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth 5 in 133 countries grouped by the 1975 GDP, 1975−2005 Figure 4.1 Deaths attributable to unsafe abortion per 100 000 65 Figure 1.6 Countries grouped according to their total health 6 live births, by legal grounds for abortions expenditure in 2005 (international $) Figure 4.2 Annual pharmaceutical spending and number 66 Figure 1.7 Africa’s children are at more risk of dying from traffic 7 of prescriptions dispensed in New Zealand since the accidents than European children: child road-traffic deaths per Pharmaceutical Management Agency was convened in 1993 100 000 population Figure 4.3 Percentage of births and deaths recorded in countries 74 Figure 1.8 The shift towards noncommunicable diseases and 8 with complete civil registration systems, by WHO region, accidents as causes of death 1975–2004 Figure 1.9 Within-country inequalities in health and health care 10 Figure 4.4 Essential public-health functions that 30 national 75 public-health institutions view as being part of their portfolio Figure 1.10 How health systems are diverted from PHC core 11 values Figure 1.11 Percentage of the population citing health as their 15 Figure 5.1 Percentage of GDP used for health, 2005 82 main concern before other issues, such as financial problems, Figure 5.2 Health expenditure in China: withdrawal of the State 84 housing or crime in the 1980s and 1990s and recent re-engagement Figure 1.12 The professionalization of birthing care: percentage 17 Figure 5.3 Transforming information systems into instruments 87 of births assisted by professional and other carers in selected for PHC reform areas, 2000 and 2005 with projections to 2015 Figure 5.4 Mutual reinforcement between innovation in the field 89 Figure 1.13 The social values that drive PHC and the 18 and policy development in the health reform process corresponding sets of reforms Figure 5.5 A growing market: technical cooperation as part of 91 Official Development Aid for Health. Yearly aid flows in 2005, deflator adjusted Figure 2.1 Catastrophic expenditure related to out-of-pocket 24 payment at the point of service Figure 5.6 Re-emerging national leadership in health: the shift 94 in donor funding towards integrated health systems support, and Figure 2.2 Three ways of moving towards universal coverage 26 its impact on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 2004 PHC Figure 2.3 Impact of abolishing user fees on outpatient 27 strategy attendance in Kisoro district, Uganda: outpatient attendance 1998–2002 Figure 6.1 Contribution of general government, private pre-paid 101 Figure 2.4 Different patterns of exclusion: massive deprivation 28 and private out-of-pocket expenditure to the yearly growth in some countries, marginalization of the poor in others. Births in total health expenditure per capita, percentage, weighted attended by medically trained personnel (percentage), by income averages group Figure 6.2 Projected per capita health expenditure in 2015, 103 Figure 2.5 Under-five mortality in rural and urban areas, the 29 rapid-growth health economies (weighted averages) Islamic Republic of Iran, 1980–2000 Figure 6.3 Projected per capita health expenditure in 2015, low 105 Figure 2.6 Improving health-care outputs in the midst of 31 expenditure, low-growth health economies (weighted averages) disaster: Rutshuru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1985–2004 Figure 6.4 The progressive extension of coverage by community- 107 owned, community–operated health centres in Mali, 1998–2007 v The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever List of Boxes Box 1 Five common shortcomings of health-care delivery xiv Box 4.1 Rallying society’s resources for health in Cuba 65 Box 2 What has been considered primary care in well-resourced xvii Box 4.2 Recommendations of the Commission on Social 69 contexts has been dangerously oversimplified in resource- Determinants of Health constrained settings Box 4.3 How to make unpopular public policy decisions 72 Box 4.4 The scandal of invisibility: where births and deaths are 74 Box 1.1 Economic development and investment choices in health 3 not counted care: the improvement of key health indicators in Portugal Box 4.5 European Union impact assessment guidelines 75 Box 1.2 Higher spending on health is associated with better 6 outcomes, but with large differences between countries Box 5.1 From withdrawal to re-engagement in China 84 Box 1.3 As information improves, the multiple dimensions of 10 growing health inequality are becoming more apparent Box 5.2 Steering national directions with the help of policy 86 dialogue: experience from three countries Box 1.4 Medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries are 12 major economic forces Box 5.3 Equity Gauges: stakeholder collaboration to tackle health 88 inequalities Box 1.5 Health is among the top personal concerns 15 Box 5.4 Limitations of conventional capacity building in low- and 91 middle-income countries Box 2.1 Best practices in moving towards universal coverage 26 Box 5.5 Rebuilding leadership in health in the aftermath of war 94 Box 2.2 Defining “essential packages”: what needs to be done to 27 and economic collapse go beyond a paper exercise? Box 2.3 Closing the urban-rural gap through progressive 29 Box 6.1 Norway’s national strategy to reduce social inequalities 102 expansion of PHC coverage in rural areas in the Islamic Republic in health of Iran Box 6.2 The virtuous cycle of supply of and demand for primary 107 Box 2.4 The robustness of PHC-led health systems: 20 years of 31 care expanding performance in Rutshuru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo Box 6.3. From product development to field implementation − 109 research makes the link Box 2.5 Targeting social protection in Chile 33 Box 2.6 Social policy in the city of Ghent, Belgium: how local 35 authorities can support intersectoral collaboration between health and welfare organizations Box 3.1 Towards a science and culture of improvement: evidence 44 to promote patient safety and better outcomes Box 3.2 When supplier-induced and consumer-driven demand 44 determine medical advice: ambulatory care in India Box 3.3 The health-care response to partner violence against 47 women Box 3.4 Empowering users to contribute to their own health 48 Box 3.5 Using information and communication technologies to 51 improve access, quality and efficiency in primary care vi  Contents List of Tables Table 1 How experience has shifted the focus of the PHC xv movement Table 3.1 Aspects of care that distinguish conventional health 43 care from people-centred primary care Table 3.2 Person-centredness: evidence of its contribution to 47 quality of care and better outcomes Table 3.3 Comprehensiveness: evidence of its contribution to 48 quality of care and better outcomes Table 3.4 Continuity of care: evidence of its contribution to 50 quality of care and better outcomes Table 3.5 Regular entry point: evidence of its contribution to 52 quality of care and better outcomes Table 4.1 Adverse health effects of changing work 70 circumstances Table 5.1 Roles and functions of public-health observatories in 89 England Table 5.2 Significant factors in improving institutional capacity 92 for health-sector governance in six countries vii The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever Director-General’s Message Wh When I took office in 2007, I made clear cle my commitment to direct WHO’s attention towards primary W health care. More important than my own conviction, this reflects the widespread and growing demand for primary health care from Member States. This demand in tu rn displays a growing appetite among policy- makers for knowledge related to how health systems can become more equitable, inclusive and fair. m It also reflects, more fundamentally, a shift towards tow the need for more compre- hensive thinking about the performance of the health h system as a whole. This year marks both the 60th birth- day of WHO W and the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata on Primary Health Care in 1978. While our global health context has changed remarkably over six decades, the values that lie at the core of the WHO Constitution and those that informed the Alma-Ata Declaration have been tested and remain true. Yet, despite enormous progress in health globally, our collective fail- ures to deliver in line with these values are painfully obvious and deserve our greatest attention. We see a mother suffering complications of labour without access to qualified support, a child missing out on essential vaccinations, an inner-city slum dweller living in squalor. We see the absence of protection for pedestrians alongside traffic-laden roads and highways, and the impoverishment arising from direct payment for care because of a lack of health insurance. These and many other everyday realities of life personify the unacceptable and avoidable shortfalls in the performance of our health systems. In moving forward, it is important to learn from the past and, in looking back, it is clear that we can do better in the future. Thus, this World Health Report revisits the ambitious vision of primary health care as a set of values and principles for guiding the development of health systems. The Report represents an important opportunity to draw on the lessons of the past, consider the challenges that viii  Director-General’s Message lie ahead, and identify major avenues for health While universally applicable, these reforms systems to narrow the intolerable gaps between do not constitute a blueprint or a manifesto for aspiration and implementation. action. The details required to give them life in These avenues are defi ned in the Report as each country must be driven by specific condi- four sets of reforms that reflect a convergence tions and contexts, drawing on the best available between the values of primary health care, the evidence. Nevertheless, there are no reasons why expectations of citizens and the common health any country − rich or poor − should wait to begin performance challenges that cut across all con- moving forward with these reforms. As the last texts. They include: three decades have demonstrated, substantial Q universal coverage reforms that ensure that progress is possible. health systems contribute to health equity, Doing better in the next 30 years means that social justice and the end of exclusion, pri- we need to invest now in our ability to bring marily by moving towards universal access actual performance in line with our aspirations, and social health protection; expectations and the rapidly changing realities of Q service delivery reforms that re-organize our interdependent health world. United by the health services around people’s needs and common challenge of primary health care, the expectations, so as to make them more socially time is ripe, now more than ever, to foster joint relevant and more responsive to the changing learning and sharing across nations to chart the world, while producing better outcomes; most direct course towards health for all. Q public policy reforms that secure healthier communities, by integrating public health actions with primary care, by pursuing healthy public policies across sectors and by strength- ening national and transnational public health Dr Margaret Chan interventions; and Director-General Q leadership reforms that replace disproportion- World Health Organization ate reliance on command and control on one hand, and laissez-faire disengagement of the state on the other, by the inclusive, participa- tory, negotiation-based leadership indicated by the complexity of contemporary health systems. ix  Introduction and Overview Why a renewal of primary health care (PHC), and why now, more than ever? The immediate answer is the palpable demand for it from Member States – not just from health professionals, but from the Responding to the political arena as well. challenges of a xii changing world Globalization is putting the social Growing expectations xiii cohesion of many countries under stress, for better performance From the packages of and health systems, as key constituents the past to the xiv reforms of the future of the architecture of contemporary Four sets of PHC reforms xvi societies, are clearly not performing as Seizing opportunities xviii well as they could and as they should. People are increasingly impatient with the inability of health services to deliver levels of national coverage that meet stated demands and changing needs, and with their failure to provide services in ways that correspond to their expectations. Few would disagree that health systems need to respond better – and faster – to the challenges of a changing world. PHC can do that. xi The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever There is today a recognition that populations are and reform of the ways health systems operate left behind and a sense of lost opportunities that in society today: those reforms constitute the are reminiscent of what gave rise, thirty years agenda of the renewal of PHC. ago, to Alma-Ata’s paradigm shift in think- ing about health. The Alma-Ata Conference Responding to the challenges of a mobilized a “Primary Health Care movement” of professionals and institutions, governments changing world On the whole, people are healthier, wealthier and and civil society organizations, researchers and live longer today than 30 years ago. If children grassroots organizations that undertook to tackle were still dying at 1978 rates, there would have the “politically, socially and economically unac- been 16.2 million deaths globally in 2006. In fact, ceptable”1 health inequalities in all countries. there were only 9.5 million such deaths9. This The Declaration of Alma-Ata was clear about the difference of 6.7 million is equivalent to 18 329 values pursued: social justice and the right to children’s lives being saved every day. The once better health for all, participation and solidarity1. revolutionary notion of essential drugs has There was a sense that progress towards these become commonplace. There have been signifi- values required fundamental changes in the way cant improvements in access to water, sanitation health-care systems operated and harnessed the and antenatal care. potential of other sectors. This shows that progress is possible. It can The translation of these values into tangible also be accelerated. There have never been more reforms has been uneven. Nevertheless, today, resources available for health than now. The glo- health equity enjoys increased prominence in bal health economy is growing faster than gross the discourse of political leaders and ministries domestic product (GDP), having increased its of health 2, as well as of local government struc- share from 8% to 8.6% of the world’s GDP between tures, professional organizations and civil society 2000 and 2005. In absolute terms, adjusted for organizations. infl ation, this represents a 35% growth in the The PHC values to achieve health for all world’s expenditure on health over a five-year require health systems that “Put people at the period. Knowledge and understanding of health centre of health care”3. What people consider are growing rapidly. The accelerated techno- desirable ways of living as individuals and what logical revolution is multiplying the potential they expect for their societies – i.e. what peo- for improving health and transforming health ple value – constitute important parameters for literacy in a better-educated and modernizing governing the health sector. PHC has remained global society. A global stewardship is emerging: the benchmark for most countries’ discourse on from intensified exchanges between countries, health precisely because the PHC movement tried often in recognition of shared threats, challenges to provide rational, evidence-based and antici- or opportunities; from growing solidarity; and patory responses to health needs and to these from the global commitment to eliminate poverty social expectations 4,5,6,7. Achieving this requires exemplified in the Millennium Development Goals trade-offs that must start by taking into account (MDGs). citizens’ “expectations about health and health However, there are other trends that must care” and ensuring “that [their] voice and choice not be ignored. First, the substantial progress decisively influence the way in which health serv- in health over recent decades has been deeply ices are designed and operate”8. A recent PHC unequal, with convergence towards improved review echoes this perspective as the “right to health in a large part of the world, but at the same the highest attainable level of health”, “maximiz- time, with a considerable number of countries ing equity and solidarity” while being guided increasingly lagging behind or losing ground. by “responsiveness to people’s needs”4. Moving Furthermore, there is now ample documenta- towards health for all requires that health sys- tion – not available 30 years ago – of consider- tems respond to the challenges of a changing able and often growing health inequalities within world and growing expectations for better per- countries. formance. This involves substantial reorientation xii  Introduction and Overview Second, the nature of health problems is chang- changes and making health systems more effec- ing in ways that were only partially anticipated, tive and equitable are often missed. Global and, and at a rate that was wholly unexpected. Ageing increasingly, national policy formulation proc- and the effects of ill-managed urbanization and esses have focused on single issues, with various globalization accelerate worldwide transmis- constituencies competing for scarce resources, sion of communicable diseases, and increase while scant attention is given to the underlying the burden of chronic and noncommunicable constraints that hold up health systems develop- disorders. The growing reality that many indi- ment in national contexts. Rather than improv- viduals present with complex symptoms and ing their response capacity and anticipating new multiple illnesses challenges service delivery challenges, health systems seem to be drifting to develop more integrated and comprehensive from one short-term priority to another, increas- case management. A complex web of interrelated ingly fragmented and without a clear sense of factors is at work, involving gradual but long- direction. term increases in income and population, climate Today, it is clear that left to their own devices, change, challenges to food security, and social health systems do not gravitate naturally towards tensions, all with defi nite, but largely unpredict- the goals of health for all through primary health able, implications for health in the years ahead. care as articulated in the Declaration of Alma- Third, health systems are not insulated from Ata. Health systems are developing in directions the rapid pace of change and transformation that contribute little to equity and social justice that is an essential part of today’s globaliza- and fail to get the best health outcomes for their tion. Economic and political crises challenge money. Three particularly worrisome trends can state and institutional roles to ensure access, be characterized as follows: delivery and fi nancing. Unregulated commer- Q health systems that focus disproportionately on cialization is accompanied by a blurring of the a narrow offer of specialized curative care; boundaries between public and private actors, Q health systems where a command-and-control while the negotiation of entitlement and rights approach to disease control, focused on short- is increasingly politicized. The information age term results, is fragmenting service delivery; has transformed the relations between citizens, Q health systems where a hands-off or laissez- professionals and politicians. faire approach to governance has allowed In many regards, the responses of the health unregulated commercialization of health to sector to the changing world have been inad- flourish. equate and naïve. Inadequate, insofar as they not only fail to anticipate, but also to respond These trends fly in the face of a comprehensive appropriately: too often with too little, too late and balanced response to health needs. In a num- or too much in the wrong place. Naïve insofar as ber of countries, the resulting inequitable access, a system’s failure requires a system’s solution – impoverishing costs, and erosion of trust in health not a temporary remedy. Problems with human care constitute a threat to social stability. resources for public health and health care, fi nance, infrastructure or information systems Growing expectations for better invariably extend beyond the narrowly defi ned health sector, beyond a single level of policy pur- performance The support for a renewal of PHC stems from the view and, increasingly, across borders: this raises growing realization among health policy-makers the benchmark in terms of working effectively that it can provide a stronger sense of direction across government and stakeholders. and unity in the current context of fragmenta- While the health sector remains massively tion of health systems, and an alternative to the under-resourced in far too many countries, assorted quick fi xes currently touted as cures the resource base for health has been growing for the health sector’s ills. There is also a grow- consistently over the last decade. The opportu- ing realization that conventional health-care nities this growth offers for inducing structural xiii The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever delivery, through different mechanisms and for problems of today and tomorrow will require different reasons, is not only less effective than stronger collective management and accountabil- it could be, but suffers from a set of ubiquitous ity guided by a clearer sense of overall direction shortcomings and contradictions that are sum- and purpose. marized in Box 1. Indeed, this is what people expect to happen. The mismatch between expectations and As societies modernize, people demand more performance is a cause of concern for health from their health systems, for themselves and authorities. Given the growing economic weight their families, as well as for the society in which and social significance of the health sector, it they live. Thus, there is increasingly popular is also an increasing cause for concern among support for better health equity and an end to politicians: it is telling that health-care issues exclusion; for health services that are centred were, on average, mentioned more than 28 times on people’s needs and expectations; for health in each of the recent primary election debates in security for the communities in which they live; the United States 22. Business as usual for health and for a say in what affects their health and that systems is not a viable option. If these shortfalls of their communities 23. in performance are to be redressed, the health These expectations resonate with the values that were at the core of the Declaration of Alma- Ata. They explain the current demand for a better Box 1 Five common shortcomings of alignment of health systems with these values health-care delivery and provide today’s PHC movement with reinvigo- rated social and political backing for its attempts to reform health systems. Inverse care. People with the most means – whose needs for health care are often less – consume the most care, whereas those with the least means and greatest health problems con- From the packages of the past to sume the least 10. Public spending on health services most often benefits the rich more than the poor11 in high- and low- the reforms of the future income countries alike12,13. Rising expectations and broad support for the Impoverishing care. Wherever people lack social protection vision set forth in Alma-Ata’s values have not and payment for care is largely out-of-pocket at the point of always easily translated into effective transfor- service, they can be confronted with catastrophic expenses. mation of health systems. There have been cir- Over 100 million people annually fall into poverty because they cumstances and trends from beyond the health have to pay for health care14. sector – structural adjustment, for example – Fragmented and fragmenting care. The excessive specializa- over which the PHC movement had little influ- tion of health-care providers and the narrow focus of many ence or control. Furthermore, all too often, the disease control programmes discourage a holistic approach to the individuals and the families they deal with and do not PHC movement has oversimplified its message, appreciate the need for continuity in care15. Health services resulting in one-size-fits-all recipes, ill-adapted for poor and marginalized groups are often highly fragmented to different contexts and problems 24. As a result, and severely under-resourced16 , while development aid often national and global health authorities have at adds to the fragmentation17. times seen PHC not as a set of reforms, as was Unsafe care. Poor system design that is unable to ensure safety intended, but as one health-care delivery pro- and hygiene standards leads to high rates of hospital-acquired infections, along with medication errors and other avoidable gramme among many, providing poor care for adverse effects that are an underestimated cause of death poor people. Table 1 looks at different dimen- and ill-health18. sions of early attempts at implementing PHC and Misdirected care. Resource allocation clusters around cura- contrasts this with current approaches. Inherent tive services at great cost, neglecting the potential of primary in this evolution is recognition that providing a prevention and health promotion to prevent up to 70% of the sense of direction to health systems requires a disease burden19,20. At the same time, the health sector lacks set of specific and context-sensitive reforms that the expertise to mitigate the adverse effects on health from other sectors and make the most of what these other sectors respond to the health challenges of today and can contribute to health21. prepare for those of tomorrow. xiv  Introduction and Overview The focus of these reforms goes well beyond lives, and about the way their society deals with “basic” service delivery and cuts across the health and health care. The dynamics of demand established boundaries of the building blocks of must fi nd a voice within the policy and decision- national health systems 25. For example, aligning making processes. The necessary reorientation of health systems based on the values that drive PHC health systems has to be based on sound scientific will require ambitious human resources policies. evidence and on rational management of uncer- However, it would be an illusion to think that tainty, but it should also integrate what people these can be developed in isolation from fi nancing expect of health and health care for themselves, or service delivery policies, civil service reform their families and their society. This requires and arrangements dealing with the cross-border delicate trade-offs and negotiation with multiple migration of health professionals. stakeholders that imply a stark departure from At the same time, PHC reforms, and the PHC the linear, top-down models of the past. Thus, movement that promotes them, have to be more PHC reforms today are neither primarily defi ned responsive to social change and rising expecta- by the component elements they address, nor tions that come with development and moderniza- merely by the choice of disease control interven- tion. People all over the world are becoming more tions to be scaled up, but by the social dynamics vocal about health as an integral part of how that defi ne the role of health systems in society. they and their families go about their everyday Table 1 How experience has shifted the focus of the PHC movement EARLY ATTEMPTS AT IMPLEMENTING PHC CURRENT CONCERNS OF PHC REFORMS Extended access to a basic package of health interventions Transformation and regulation of existing health systems, and essential drugs for the rural poor aiming for universal access and social health protection Concentration on mother and child health Dealing with the health of everyone in the community Focus on a small number of selected diseases, primarily A comprehensive response to people’s expectations and infectious and acute needs, spanning the range of risks and illnesses Improvement of hygiene, water, sanitation and health Promotion of healthier lifestyles and mitigation of the health education at village level effects of social and environmental hazards Simple technology for volunteer, non-professional Teams of health workers facilitating access to and community health workers appropriate use of technology and medicines Participation as the mobilization of local resources Institutionalized participation of civil society in policy and health-centre management through local health dialogue and accountability mechanisms committees Government-funded and delivered services with a Pluralistic health systems operating in a globalized context centralized top-down management Management of growing scarcity and downsizing Guiding the growth of resources for health towards universal coverage Bilateral aid and technical assistance Global solidarity and joint learning Primary care as the antithesis of the hospital Primary care as coordinator of a comprehensive response at all levels PHC is cheap and requires only a modest investment PHC is not cheap: it requires considerable investment, but it provides better value for money than its alternatives xv The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever Four sets of PHC reforms Figure 1 The PHC reforms necessary to refocus This report structures the PHC reforms in four health systems towards health for all groups that reflect the convergence between the evidence on what is needed for an effective UNIVERSAL SERVICE response to the health challenges of today’s world, COVERAGE DELIVERY the values of equity, solidarity and social justice REFORMS REFORMS that drive the PHC movement, and the growing expectations of the population in modernizing to improve to make health systems societies (Figure 1): health equity people-centred Q reforms that ensure that health systems con- tribute to health equity, social justice and the end of exclusion, primarily by moving towards universal access and social health protection LEADERSHIP PUBLIC POLICY – universal coverage reforms; REFORMS REFORMS Q reforms that reorganize health services as to make health to promote and primary care, i.e. around people’s needs and authorities more protect the health of expectations, so as to make them more socially reliable communities relevant and more responsive to the changing world while producing better outcomes – serv- ice delivery reforms; than they were 30 years ago, but large population Q reforms that secure healthier communities, by groups have been left behind. In some places, integrating public health actions with primary war and civil strife have destroyed infrastruc- care and by pursuing healthy public policies ture, in others, unregulated commercialization across sectors – public policy reforms; has made services available, but not necessarily Q reforms that replace disproportionate reli- those that are needed. Supply gaps are still a ance on command and control on one hand, reality in many countries, making extension of and laissez-faire disengagement of the state their service networks a priority concern, as was on the other, by the inclusive, participatory, the case 30 years ago. negotiation-based leadership required by the As the overall supply of health services has complexity of contemporary health systems – improved, it has become more obvious that bar- leadership reforms. riers to access are important factors of inequity: user fees, in particular, are important sources of The fi rst of these four sets of reforms aims at exclusion from needed care. Moreover, when peo- diminishing exclusion and social disparities in ple have to purchase health care at a price that is health. Ultimately, the determinants of health beyond their means, a health problem can quickly inequality require a societal response, with precipitate them into poverty or bankruptcy14. political and technical choices that affect many That is why extension of the supply of services different sectors. Health inequalities are also has to go hand-in-hand with social health protec- shaped by the inequalities in availability, access tion, through pooling and pre-payment instead of and quality of services, by the fi nancial burden out-of-pocket payment of user fees. The reforms these impose on people, and even by the lin- to bring about universal coverage – i.e. universal guistic, cultural and gender-based barriers that access combined with social health protection are often embedded in the way in which clinical – constitute a necessary condition to improved practice is conducted 26. health equity. As systems that have achieved near If health systems are to reduce health inequi- universal coverage show, such reforms need to ties, a precondition is to make services available to be complemented with another set of proactive all, i.e. to bridge the gap in the supply of services. measures to reach the unreached: those for Service networks are much more extensive today whom service availability and social protection xvi  Introduction and Overview does too little to offset the health consequences (person-centredness, comprehensiveness and of social stratification. Many individuals in this integration, continuity of care, and participa- group rely on health-care networks that assume tion of patients, families and communities) are the responsibility for the health of entire com- well identified 15,27. Care that exhibits these fea- munities. This is where a second set of reforms, tures requires health services that are organ- the service delivery reforms, comes in. ized accordingly, with close-to-client multidisci- These service delivery reforms are meant plinary teams that are responsible for a defi ned to transform conventional health-care delivery population, collaborate with social services and into primary care, optimizing the contribution of other sectors, and coordinate the contributions health services – local health systems, health-care of hospitals, specialists and community organi- networks, health districts – to health and equity zations. Recent economic growth has brought while responding to the growing expectations for additional resources to health. Combined with “putting people at the centre of health care, har- the growing demand for better performance, this monizing mind and body, people and systems”3. creates major opportunities to reorient existing These service delivery reforms are but one subset health services towards primary care – not only of PHC reforms, but one with such a high profi le in well-resourced settings, but also where money that it has often masked the broader PHC agenda. is tight and needs are high. In the many low- The resulting confusion has been compounded and middle-income countries where the supply by the oversimplification of what primary care of services is in a phase of accelerated expansion, entails and of what distinguishes it from conven- there is an opportunity now to chart a course that tional health-care delivery (Box 2)24. may avoid repeating some of the mistakes high- There is a substantial body of evidence on the income countries have made in the past. comparative advantages, in terms of effectiveness Primary care can do much to improve the and efficiency, of health care organized as people- health of communities, but it is not sufficient to centred primary care. Despite variations in the respond to people’s desires to live in conditions specific terminology, its characteristic features that protect their health, support health equity Box 2 What has been considered primary care in well-resourced contexts has been dangerously oversimplified in resource-constrained settings Primary care has been defined, described and studied extensively in well-resourced contexts, often with reference to physicians with a specialization in family medicine or general practice. These descriptions provide a far more ambitious agenda than the unacceptably restrictive and off-putting primary-care recipes that have been touted for low-income countries27,28 : Q primary care provides a place to which people can bring a wide range of health problems – it is not acceptable that in low-income countries primary care would only deal with a few “priority diseases”; Q primary care is a hub from which patients are guided through the health system – it is not acceptable that, in low-income countries, primary care would be reduced to a stand-alone health post or isolated community-health worker; Q primary care facilitates ongoing relationships between patients and clinicians, within which patients participate in decision-making about their health and health care; it builds bridges between personal health care and patients’ families and communities – it is not acceptable that, in low-income countries, primary care would be restricted to a one-way delivery channel for priority health interventions; Q primary care opens opportunities for disease prevention and health promotion as well as early detection of disease – it is not acceptable that, in low-income countries, primary care would just be about treating common ailments; Q primary care requires teams of health professionals: physicians, nurse practitioners, and assistants with specific and sophisticated biomedical and social skills – it is not acceptable that, in low-income countries, primary care would be synonymous with low-tech, non-professional care for the rural poor who cannot afford any better; Q primary care requires adequate resources and investment, and can then provide much better value for money than its alternatives – it is not acceptable that, in low-income countries, primary care would have to be financed through out-of-pocket payments on the erroneous assumption that it is cheap and the poor should be able to afford it. xvii The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever and enable them to lead the lives that they value. “health in all policies”29 to ensure that, along with People also expect their governments to put into the other sectors’ goals and objectives, health place an array of public policies to deal with effects play a role in public policy decisions. health challenges, such as those posed by urbani- In order to bring about such reforms in the zation, climate change, gender discrimination or extraordinarily complex environment of the social stratification. health sector, it will be necessary to reinvest in These public policies encompass the technical public leadership in a way that pursues collabo- policies and programmes dealing with priority rative models of policy dialogue with multiple health problems. These programmes can be stakeholders – because this is what people expect, designed to work through, support and give a and because this is what works best. Health boost to primary care, or they can neglect to do authorities can do a much better job of formu- this and, however unwillingly, undermine efforts lating and implementing PHC reforms adapted to reform service delivery. Health authorities to specific national contexts and constraints have a major responsibility to make the right if the mobilization around PHC is informed by design decisions. Programmes to target prior- the lessons of past successes and failures. The ity health problems through primary care need governance of health is a major challenge for to be complemented by public-health interven- ministries of health and the other institutions, tions at national or international level. These governmental and nongovernmental, that pro- may offer scale efficiencies; for some problems, vide health leadership. They can no longer be they may be the only workable option. The evi- content with mere administration of the system: dence is overwhelming that action on that scale, they have to become learning organizations. This for selected interventions, which may range requires inclusive leadership that engages with from public hygiene and disease prevention to a variety of stakeholders beyond the bounda- health promotion, can have a major contribution ries of the public sector, from clinicians to civil to health. Yet, they are surprisingly neglected, society, and from communities to researchers across all countries, regardless of income level. and academia. Strategic areas for investment to This is particularly visible at moments of crisis improve the capacity of health authorities to lead and acute threats to the public’s health, when PHC reforms include making health information rapid response capacity is essential not only to systems instrumental to reform; harnessing the secure health, but also to maintain the public innovations in the health sector and the related trust in the health system. dynamics in all societies; and building capacity Public policy-making, however, is about more through exchange and exposure to the experience than classical public health. Primary care and of others – within and across borders. social protection reforms critically depend on choosing health-systems policies, such as those Seizing opportunities related to essential drugs, technology, human These four sets of PHC reforms are driven by resources and fi nancing, which are supportive of shared values that enjoy large support and chal- the reforms that promote equity and people-cen- lenges that are common to a globalizing world. tred care. Furthermore, it is clear that population Yet, the starkly different realities faced by indi- health can be improved through policies that are vidual countries must inform the way they are controlled by sectors other than health. School taken forward. The operationalization of univer- curricula, the industry’s policy towards gender sal coverage, service delivery, public policy and equality, the safety of food and consumer goods, leadership reforms cannot be implemented as a or the transport of toxic waste are all issues that blueprint or as a standardized package. can profoundly influence or even determine the In high-expenditure health economies, which health of entire communities, positively or nega- is the case of most high-income countries, there is tively, depending on what choices are made. With ample fi nancial room to accelerate the shift from deliberate efforts towards intersectoral collabo- tertiary to primary care, create a healthier policy ration, it is possible to give due consideration to environment and complement a well-established xviii  Introduction and Overview universal coverage system with targeted mea- health spending currently goes to correcting sures to reduce exclusion. In the large number of common distortions in the way health systems fast-growing health economies – which is where function or to overcoming system bottlenecks that 3 billion people live – that very growth provides constrain service delivery, but the potential is opportunities to base health systems on sound there and is growing fast. primary care and universal coverage principles Global solidarity – and aid – will remain impor- at a stage where it is in full expansion, avoiding tant to supplement and suppport countries mak- the errors by omission, such as failing to invest ing slow progress, but it will become less impor- in healthy public policies, and by commission, tant per se than exchange, joint learning and such as investing disproportionately in tertiary global governance. This transition has already care, that have characterized health systems in taken place in most of the world: most developing high-income countries in the recent past. The countries are not aid-dependent. International challenge is, admittedly, more daunting for the cooperation can accelerate the conversion of the 2 billion people living in the low-growth health world’s health systems, including through better economies of Africa and South-East Asia, as channelling of aid, but real progress will come well as for the more than 500 million who live in from better health governance in countries – low- fragile states. Yet, even here, there are signs of and high-income alike. growth – and evidence of a potential to accelerate The health authorities and political leaders it through other means than through the counter- are ill at ease with current trends in the devel- productive reliance on inequitable out-of-pocket opment of health systems and with the obvious payments at points of delivery – that offer pos- need to adapt to the changing health challenges, sibilities to expand health systems and services. demands and rising expectations. This is shap- Indeed, more than in other countries, they cannot ing the current opportunity to implement PHC afford not to opt for PHC and, as elsewhere, they reforms. People’s frustration and pressure for dif- can start doing so right away. ferent, more equitable health care and for better The current international environment is health protection for society is building up: never favourable to a renewal of PHC. Global health is before have expectations been so high about what receiving unprecedented attention, with growing health authorities and, specifically, ministries of interest in united action, greater calls for com- health should be doing about this. prehensive and universal care – be it from people By capitalizing on this momentum, investment living with HIV and those concerned with provid- in PHC reforms can accelerate the transformation ing treatment and care, ministers of health, or of health systems so as to yield better and more the Group of Eight (G8) – and a mushrooming of equitably distributed health outcomes. The world innovative global funding mechanisms related has better technology and better information to to global solidarity. There are clear and welcome allow it to maximize the return on transforming the signs of a desire to work together in building sus- functioning of health systems. Growing civil society tainable systems for health rather than relying on involvement in health and scale-efficient collective fragmented and piecemeal approaches 30. global thinking (for example, in essential drugs) At the same time, there is a perspective of further contributes to the chances of success. enhanced domestic investment in re-invigor- During the last decade, the global commu- ating the health systems around PHC values. nity started to deal with poverty and inequality The growth in GDP – admittedly vulnerable to across the world in a much more systematic way economic slowdown, food and energy crises and – by setting the MDGs and bringing the issue of global warming – is fuelling health spending inequality to the core of social policy-making. throughout the world, with the notable excep- Throughout, health has been a central, closely tion of fragile states. Harnessing this economic interlinked concern. This offers opportunities for growth would offer opportunities to effectuate more effective health action. It also creates the necessary PHC reforms that were unavailable necessary social conditions for the establishment during the 1980s and 1990s. Only a fraction of of close alliances beyond the health sector. Thus, xix The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever intersectoral action is back on centre stage. Many The legitimacy of health authorities increasingly among today’s health authorities no longer see depends on how well they assume responsibility their responsibility for health as being limited to develop and reform the health sector accord- to survival and disease control, but as one of ing to what people value – in terms of health and the key capabilities people and societies value31. of what is expected of health systems in society. References 1. Primary health care: report of the International Conference on Primary Health 15. Starfield B. Policy relevant determinants of health: an international perspective. Care, Alma-Ata, USSR, 6–12 September, 1978, jointly sponsored by the World Health Policy, 2002, 60:201–218. Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Geneva, World Health 16. Moore G, Showstack J. Primary care medicine in crisis: towards reconstruction and Organization, 1978 (Health for All Series No. 1). renewal. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2003, 138:244–247. 2. Dahlgren G, Whitehead M. Levelling up (part 2): a discussion paper on European 17. Shiffman J. Has donor prioritization of HIV/AIDS displaced aid for other health strategies for tackling social inequities in health. Copenhagen, World Health issues? Health Policy and Planning, 2008, 23:95–100. Organization Regional Office for Europe, 2006 (Studies on social and economic 18. Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS, eds. To err is human: building a safer health determinants of population health No. 3). system. Washington DC, National Academy Press, Committee on Quality of Care in 3. WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia and WHO Regional Office for the Western America, Institute of Medicine, 1999. Pacific. People at the centre of health care: harmonizing mind and body, people and 19. Fries JF et al. Reducing health care costs by reducing the need and demand for systems. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2007. medical services. New England Journal of Medicine, 1993, 329:321–325. 4. Renewing primary health care in the Americas: a position paper of the Pan American 20. The World Health Report 2002 – Reducing risks, promoting healthy life. Geneva, Health Organization. Washington DC, Pan American Health Organization, 2007. World Health Organization, 2002. 5. Saltman R, Rico A, Boerma W. Primary health care in the driver’s seat: organizational 21. Sindall C. Intersectoral collaboration: the best of times, the worst of times. Health reform in European primary care. Maidenhead, England, Open University Press, 2006 Promotion International, 1997, 12(1):5–6. (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies Series). 22. Stevenson D. Planning for the future – long term care and the 2008 election. New 6. Report on the review of primary care in the African Region. Brazzaville, World Health England Journal of Medicine, 2008, 358:19. Organization Regional Office for Africa, 2003. 23. Blendon RJ et al. Inequities in health care: a five-country survey. Health Affairs, 7. International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma-Ata: twenty-fifth anniversary. 2002, 21:182–191. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2003 (Fifty-sixth World Health Assembly, 24. Tarimo E, Webster EG. Primary health care concepts and challenges in a changing Geneva, 19–28 May 2003, WHA56.6, Agenda Item 14.18). world: Alma-Ata revisited. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1997 (Current 8. The Ljubljana Charter on Reforming Health Care, 1996. 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Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993. xx  The challenges of a changing world This T his cchapter hapter describes describ the context in which tthe he contemporary conttemporrary re renewal of primary hhealth eaalthh care care isis unfolding. unfoldingg. The chapter reviews current curr rent cchallenges haallengees to he health ealth aand health systems and ddescribes esscribes a ssetett of of broadly broaddly shared sha ssocial ocial eexpectations xpectations that set the t Chapter 1 aagenda geendaa ffor or hhealth ealthh systems change systeems cha Unequal growth, 2 unequal outcomes iinn ttoday’s odaay’s wworld. orld. Adapting to new health challenges 7 IItt sshows hows hhowow mamany any countries couuntries Trends that undermine the 11 hhave ave registered registered signifi siignificcant ant health he health systems’ response Changing values and pprogress rogress over over recent decades recent dec cades aand rising expectations 14 hhow ow ggains ains hhave ave been been unevenly unnevenly PHC reforms: 18 driven by demand sshared. hared. Health Health gapsgaps between beetween ccountries ountries aand nd aamong mong ssocial ocial ggroups within ccountries ountries hhaveav e w ideneed. Social, widened. Soc demographic aand nd epidemiological epidemiological transformations traansfor fed by gglobalization, lobalization, uurbanization rbanizattion aand ageing populations, ppose ose cchallenges hallenges ooff a mag gnitud that was not magnitude aanticipated nticipated tthreehree ddecades ecadees ago ago. 1 The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care – Now More Than Ever The chapter argues that, in general, the The under-five mortality rate has dropped by a response of the health sector and societies to staggering 94% 3. these challenges has been slow and inadequate. In each region (except in the African region) This reflects both an inability to mobilize the there are countries where mortality rates are now requisite resources and institutions to transform less than one fi fth of what they were 30 years health around the values of primary health care ago. Leading examples are Chile 4, Malaysia 5, as well as a failure to either counter or substan- Portugal 6 and Thailand 7 (Figure 1.1). These tially modify forces that pull the health sector results were associated with improved access to in other directions, namely: a disproportionate expanded health-care networks, made possible focus on specialist hospital care; fragmentation of by sustained political commitment and by eco- health systems; and the proliferation of unregu- nomic growth that allowed them to back up their lated commercial care. Ironically, these power- commitment by maintaining investment in the ful trends lead health systems away from what health sector (Box 1.1). people expect from health and health care. When the Declaration of Alma-Ata enshrined the prin- ciples of health equity, people-centred care and Figure 1.1 Selected best performing countries in reducing under-five mortality by at least 80%, by regions, 1975–2006a,* a central role for communities in health action, they were considered radical. Social research Deaths per 1000 children under five 1975 2006 suggests, however, that these values are becom- 150 ing mainstream in modernizing societies: they correspond to the way people look at health and 100 what they expect from their health systems. Rising social expectations regarding health and health care, therefore, must be seen as a major 50 driver of PHC reforms. 0 Oman Portugal Chile Malaysia Thailand Unequal growth, (THE 2006: I$ 382)b (THE 2006: I$ 2080)b (THE 2006: I$ 697)b (THE 2006: I$ 500)b