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 political arena as well. Globalization is putting the
social cohesion of many countries under stress, and health
systems, as key constituents of the architecture of contemporary
societies, are clearly not performing as 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. The World Health Report 2007 - A safer
future: global public health security in the 21st century marks
a turning point in the history of public health, and signals
what could be one of the bigg