Primary health care in a paediatric setting — the background

Abstract

At a recent conference, a definition was drawn up that is most appropriate to the South African situation: “ Primary health care is essential health care made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community by means acceptable to them, through their full participation, and at a cost that the community and country can afford. It forms an integral part both of the country’s health system of which it is the nucleus, and of the overall social and economic development of the community.”