World Health Organization 20, Avenue Appia

1. Urges Member States: 
(1) to ensure political commitment at all levels to the values and principles of the Declaration of Alma-
Ata, keep the issue of strengthening health systems based on the primary health care approach 
high on the international political agenda, and take advantage, as appropriate, of health-related 
partnerships and initiatives relating to this issue, particularly to support achievement of the health-
related Millennium Development Goals; 
(2) to accelerate action towards universal access to primary health care by developing comprehensive 
health services and by developing national equitable, efficient and sustainable financing 
mechanisms, mindful of the need to ensure social protection and protect health budgets in the 
context of the current international financial crisis; 

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Integrating palliative care and symptom relief into primary health care
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(3) to put people at the centre of health care by adopting, as appropriate, delivery models focused on 
the local and district levels that provide comprehensive primary health care services, including health 
promotion, disease prevention, curative care and palliative care, that are integrated and coordinated 
according to needs, while ensuring effective referral system; 
(4) to promote active participation by all people, and re-emphasize the empowering of communities, 
especially women, in the processes of developing and implementing policy and improving health 
and health care, in order to support the renewal of primary health care; 
(5) to train and retain adequate numbers of health workers, with appropriate skill mix, including primary 
health care nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and family physicians, able to work in a 
multidisciplinary context, in cooperation with non-professional community health workers in order to 
respond effectively to people’s health needs; 
(6) to encourage that vertical programmes, including disease-specific programmes, are developed, 
integrated and implemented in the context of integrated primary health care; 
(7) to improve access to appropriate medicines, health products and technologies, all of which are 
required to support primary health care; 
(8) to develop and strengthen health information and surveillance systems, relating to primary health 
care in order to facilitate evidence-based policies and programmes and their evaluation; 
(9) to strengthen health ministries, enabling them to provide inclusive, transparent and accountable 
leadership of the health sector and to facilitate multisectoral action as part of primary health care;