A declaration for all?

The year 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care (PHC), adopted at Almaty, Kazakhstan, in September 1978. Primary Health Care comprises of three aspects that focus on improving the health of individuals and communities, namely, empowering people, multisectoral policy and action, and integrated health services built around primary care and public health. Many different events took place during 2018 in preparation for a Global Conference on Primary Health Care, held on 25–26 October 2018, arranged by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) in Astana, Kazakhstan, where various world governments renewed their commitment to PHC in order to achieve universal health coverage and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals