Alma-Ata: Rebirth and Revision 4.

This article discusses research into health outcomes in countries that have focussed on primary care since the 1978 Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan conference established universal health care as an international goal. The countries assessed have made the most dramatic changes in their child mortality rates since 1978. These countries are then analysed in terms of the relationship between their health outcomes and their per capita gross national income. Successful countries improved their life expectancy statistics faster than their GNI grew. Issues of governance, violence and political stability are cited as explanations for the different performances of different countries. INSETS: Panel 1: Thailand's progress in primary health care and...;Panel 2: Composite lessons learned from countries that are....