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Alma-Ata Declaration

Last updated: October 27, 2019

What Does Alma-Ata Declaration Mean?

The Alma-Ata Declaration is a brief document that recognizes primary health care as a means to achieving the objective of health for all people of all nations. In terms of health and safety programs, it's a joint declaration of nations under the umbrella of the World Health Organization (WHO) that was adopted and announced to the world in 1978 during the International Conference on Primary Health Care in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The Alma-Ata Declaration effectively identifies varying factors that contribute to the health of people on a global scale. It also recognizes factors that adversely impact the physical, mental, and social well-being of people around the world, and it resolves that every country should take continuous corrective measures to ensure healthy living for all people. Emphasizing that this state of well-being is a human right, it concludes that all countries around the world should be expected to uphold this right of their citizens.

Safeopedia Explains Alma-Ata Declaration

The Alma-Ata Declaration recognizes the chasm in healthy living for people of developing and underdeveloped nations. Furthermore, it recognizes the social, political, and economic unacceptability of such inequality, and it places an emphasis on bridging that gap. The declaration looks at the health of every individual around the world as a social justice issue and recommends that all governments and social organizations work toward a remedy.

The declaration acknowledges that every individual should have a say in his or her health care in any part of the world, and nations under the WHO umbrella resolve to uphold this right to effective and affordable health care. Additionally, this declaration recognizes primary health care by means of practical, scientific, and socially acceptable means to ensure the physical, social, and mental well-being of people anywhere in the world.

The Alma-Ata Declaration designates the year 2020 as the year when nations around the world are expected to set aside a significant portion of their national military budgets to instead be put toward health care for citizens. These are significant goals for both developing and underdeveloped nations—goals that are yet to be achieved in countries dealing with internal and external conflicts.

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