Health is wealth. It is the fundamental human right. So, it
is the major duty of government to make basic health services available
throughout the country. Primary health means the basic health services that are
needed for every individual to be healthy. For the healthy life of citizens of
any country, the individual, community, family, nation, government, all should
be conscious and responsible from their respective field.
More than half of the world population is deprived of even
from the basic health care. Mostly, the people of rural and remote areas are
losing their life untimely by common diseases which can be controlled and
treated easily. They do not have access to the basic health care. In developing
countries, emphasis is given on curative aspect rather than preventive aspect.
This is because of economic problem, lack of awareness, and scarcity of health
services provided by the nation to its citizens.
As the time changes, concept of people also goes on changing.
They become more conscious about their health. New approaches to health have
come into existence. In 1978, there was an international conference held on 6
to 18 September in the capital city of Alma-Ata
of present Kazakhstan in the
then USSR .
The conference was organized by the WHO and the UNICEF. There was participation
of 134 countries altogether including Nepal . Participation of our country
initiated the trend of health strategies and plans according to the concept of
Primary Health Care. The conference has defined primary health in the following
way.
Primary Health Care is an essential health care made
universally accessible to individuals and acceptable to them, through their
full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford.
From the above
definition, we can include the following points under primary health care:
. Primary health care should have
accessibility in all individuals and families in the
community.
. Primary health care should be easily
available and must be affordable to all
classes of
people.
. There must be participation of people
in dissemination of primary health care.
. Services of primary health care
should be bearable to the nation.
Characteristics of
Primary Health Care
Availability of
Health Services
Basic and minimum health services should be available to all
the people of community. There must be physical presence of health service
provider, i.e. health centers and health personal should be available easily in
the community
Accessibility of
Health Services
Health services provided by the government or other related
agencies should be within the access of common people. It should be provided at
affordable cost. Basic medicines needed for common health problems should be
made available.
Full participation of
Community in Primary Health Care Programs
Any kind of health program needs participation of local
people to be successful and effective. Without participation of people, the
program cannot be successful and it cannot bring changes in the health status
of the concerned community.
Affordable for
community and Nation
The components of Primary Health Care must have affordable
price. In such a program, local resources and technologies should be used.
Foreign technologies and medicines may be expensive but the government or
health service providing organizations should manage it for the common people
if these are included under primary health care.
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