The declaration endorsed at the Second Global Conference on Primary Health Care in Astana, Kazakhstan in October 2018, 40 years after the first declaration was endorsed at Almaty (then Alma-Ata) in 1978, ascertains that health care needs of many people around the world still have not been addressed, in spite of great progress made in the last four decades. It emphasizes the key role of the primary health care in ensuring the fundamental right of every person to the highest attainable standard of health.

In its essence, primary health care is about carrying for people, rather than simply treating specific diseases or conditions. It is the foundation for ensuring shared global goals in universal health coverage and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.

Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Adil Osmanovic represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Conference.

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) and Nursing Now global campaign aiming to improve the profile and status of nurses worldwide played a key role in bringing the voice of nursing profession to this event. It was emphasized that “a new model of primary health care is emerging with nurses at its heart”. The governments were called on to remove the barriers that impede nurses to work to their full scope to achieve the vision set out in the Astana Declaration. Since nurses comprise half of the global health workforce, they play an important role in every segment of the primary health care. With the right knowledge, skills, opportunities and financial support, nurses become effective practitioners, health coaches and knowledge suppliers not only for
patients but also for their families throughout their life course.

The significance of nursing and midwifery profession for achieving the Alma-Ata Declaration vision is also described in an article of a special edition of the prominent general medicine journal Lancet, devoted to this event.

Additional information:

Joint Nursing Now Campaign Announcement