Bases and Horizons of Person-Centered Women’s Health 40 Years after Alma Ata

Abstract

Forty years after the Alma Ata Declaration, opportunities and challenges in achieving person-centered care for all people remain, particularly for women. This review describes the foundations and horizons of the Geneva Declaration Person-Centered Women’s Health 40 Years after Alma Ata, issued as a consensus statement of the International College of Person Centered Medicine (ICPCM) meeting in April 2018. Person-centered medicine has as its central precept the relationship between a health professional and a person seeking care. This principle is the link to primary health care, which is built on a lasting relationship with individuals and populations. Women have particular health needs, partly based on reproductive health, influenced by the social context of their lives. There is a need for recommitment to the principles of Alma Ata if health for all is to be achieved. Equitable access to person-centered integrated care for women and men throughout the life course is a human right. Universal health care, based on primary health care as a general health strategy, is the precursor for achieving this aim.