The 30th anniversary of the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration was marked by a celebration in Brussels on October 17, 2008. During the program, two PHM activists were interviewed on the significance of Alma Ata and the way forward in the struggle for the right to health. Here are some excerpts from this interview with Arturo Quizhpe from Ecuador and Wim De Ceukelaire from Belgium.

What do you remember from Alma Ata and how did you learn about it?

Synthesis by Dr. Bert De Belder (intal) of the seminar "30 years of Alma Ata: The Right to Health is not for Sale" on October 17, 2008 in ULB, Brussels, Belgium.*

The recently released World Health Report on PHC (WHO Oct 2008) is an attempt to bring PHC again to the forefront of our priorities in global health. Good for that!

But the world has changed in these 30 years.

In 1978, we did not have:

From the media coverage of the report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, one might think it said nothing new. There are considerable inequalities in health, particularly between rich and poor. These arise from differences in incomes, access to health services, clean water, sanitation and education. There is a moral imperative to act on this social injustice. All of this could have been said at any time over the last 20 or 30 years.

On Thursday September 4th, 2008 the Egyptian Administrative Court has announced its verdict in the urgent appeal of the case no. 21665/61 by suspending the execution of the Prime Minister decree no. 637 for the year 2007 by founding the Egyptian Holding Company for Heath Care.

PHM Position Paper on Health in Zimbabwe, posted 14 June 2008. Includes more detailed analysis of the socio-economic background; the main current issues; the role of the state and recommendations from the Community Working Group on Health.

1. Socio-economic background

At Independence in 1980, Zimbabwe inherited some of the worst rural-urban disparities in the provision of social services. In the 1980s, the new national government made commendable progress in redressing these disparities. In healthcare delivery, these efforts

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