Primary health care

D E PA RT M E N T O F P U B L I C H E A LT H D E N T I S T RY
D R . H A RVA N S H S I N G H J U D G E I N S T I T U T E O F
D E N TA L S C I E N C E S A N D H O S P I TA L
PA N J A B U N I V E R S I T Y
2 0 1 5
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Name: DOLY
BDS III Year
By DOLY (3rd Year)

CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 HISTORY
 DEFINITION
 CHARACTERISTICS OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
 ELEMENTS OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
 PRINCIPLES OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 APPENDIX
By DOLY (3rd Year)

INTRODUCTION
Primary health care is an approach to health care,
which integrates at the community level all the
factors required for improving the health status of
the population.
Services provided are,
 Simple & efficient with regard to cost, techniques, &
organization,
 Readily accessible to those concerned & contributes to
improving the living conditions of individuals, the families &
the community as a whole.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

The concept came into existence, following
a Joint WHO-UNICEF International
Conference at Alma Ata, USSR, on 12th
September,1978.
WHO goal of Health for All by 2000AD
accepted.
Primary Health Care proclaimed as a way
to achieving Health for All.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

DEFINITION
Primary health care is defined as “Essential health
care based on practical, scientifically sound and
socially acceptable methods and technology
made universally accessible 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-
determination”.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

CHARACTERISTICS OF PRIMARY HEALTH
CARE
1. It is essential health care, which is based on practical,
scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and
technology.
2. It should be rendered universally acceptable to
individuals and the families in the community through
their full participation.
3. Its availability should be at a cost, which the community
& country can afford to maintain at every stage of their
development in a spirit of self-reliance and self-
development.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

characteristics of primary health care continued….
4. It requires joint efforts of the health sector and other
health related sectors like, education, food and
agriculture, social welfare, animal husbandry, housing,
etc.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

ALMA –ATA DECLARATION
 Reflects & evolves from the economic conditions and socio-
cultural & political characteristics of the country & is based on
the application of the relevant results of social, biomedical &
health services research & public health experience
 Addresses the main health problems in the community,
providing promotive, preventive, curative & rehabilitative
services accordingly
 Involves, in addition to the health sector, all related sectors &
aspects of national & community development , in particular
agriculture, animal husbandry, food, industry, education,
housing, public works, communications & other sectors; and
demands the coordinated efforts of all those sectors
By DOLY (3rd Year)

 Should be sustained by integrated, functional & mutually-
supportive referral systems, leading to the progressive
priority to those most in need
 Requires & promotes maximum community & individual
self-reliance & participation in the planning, organization,
operation & control of primary health care, making fullest
use of local, national & other available resources, and to
this end develops, through appropriate education, the
ability of communities to participate
By DOLY (3rd Year)

 Relies, at local & referral levels, on health workers,
including physicians, nurses, midwives, auxiliaries,
community workers, as well as traditional practitioners,
suitably trained socially and technically to work as a
health team and to respond to the expressed health needs
of the community
By DOLY (3rd Year)

1. The first key principle
2. Health services must be shared
equally by all people irrespective of
their ability to pay
3. All rich and poor, urban or rural
must have access to health services
4. No ‘social injustice’.
5. Shifting the centre of gravity of
health care system from cities to
rural areas.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

Community
participation
1. Involvement of individuals,
families, and communities in
promotion of their own health and
welfare.
2. Planning, implementation and
maintenance of health services.
3. In India : village health guides and
trained dais.
4. In china : ‘bare-foot doctors’.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

By DOLY (3rd Year)
Local Health Camps

By DOLY (3rd Year)
Polio booths

By DOLY (3rd Year)
A way to spread awareness by health care organizations

By DOLY (3rd Year)
Mid-day meal scheme
Bare-foot doctors
(China)

Intersectoral
coordination
1. Planning with the other sectors to
avoid unnecessary duplication of
activities.
2. Alma-Ata : “primary health care
involves in addition to the health
sector, all related sectors and
aspects of national and community
development, in particular
agriculture, animal husbandry,
food, industry, education, housing,
public works, communication and
other sectors.”
By DOLY (3rd Year)

Appropriate
technology
• Scientifically sound.
• Adaptable to local needs.
• Acceptable to those who apply it and
those for whom it is used.
• Can be maintained by the people
themselves.
• Affordable to the community &
country.
• Using cheaper, scientifically valid &
acceptable equipments, procedures &
techniques when available.
Example: Neem stick, mango leaf for
tooth brushing are effective when used
in a proper way.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

Focus on
prevention
Treatment of illness and
rehabilitation are important since
communities rightly except
treatment services and may be less
interested in other services unless
accompanied by curative services.
Health services should however not
only be curative but should also
promote health and healthy
lifestyles with emphasis on
prevention.
By DOLY (3rd Year)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
References:
 Textbook of Public Health And Community Dentistry by
Soben Peter.
 Textbook of Preventive and community Dentistry by SS
Hiremath
 Internet
By DOLY (3rd Year)

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