The Newsletter of the Pan American Health Organization CONTENTS
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45TH DIRECTING COUNCIL Kennedy Recalls "Health for All" U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (l.) and then WHO Director-General Halfdan Mahler at Alma-Ata. U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy made a surprise appearance at the First International Conference on Primary Health Care in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, in 1978. Though not an official delegate, he was an important participant in the conference, sharing the dais with then Director-General of the World Health Organization Halfdan Mahler. In a recent statement honoring the 25th anniversary of Alma-Ata, Kennedy recalled the conference and expressed support for the principles of primary health care: "At Alma-Ata, we declared that health care is not just another commodity. The wealth of a nation should not determine the health of its people. Good health is not a gift to be rationed based on ability to pay. Quality, affordable health care for all people is a matter of basic fairness. … At Alma-Ata, we urged the governments of the world to guarantee this right by the year 2000." Kennedy's full statement is available at PAHO's special page on Primary Health Care: Beyond Alma-Ata. |