Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975 on development and international economic co-operation,

Recalling also the United Nations conferences held in recent years on major issues relating to economic and social development and the establishment of the new international economic order, particularly the International Conference on Primary Health Care, jointly sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund, held at Alma Ata, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, from 6 to 12 September 1978,

Noting that a substantial portion of the population in many countries, developing as well as developed, lacks access to basic health services, and that people lacking adequate health cannot fully participate in or contribute to the economic and social development of their nation,

Welcoming the important efforts of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and the other agencies of the United Nations system associated with the effort to attain the goal of health for all by the year 2000, as expressed in World Health Assembly resolutions WHA 30.43 of 19 May 1977 and WHA 32.30 of 25 May 1979,

Considering that peace and security are important for the preservation and improvement of the health of all people and that co-operation among nations on vital health issues can contribute importantly to peace,

Cognizant of the vital role that health and health care play in the development of countries, particularly developing countries,

1.Endorses the Declaration of Alma Ata,/28 in particular the view that primary health care, aimed at the solution of the major world health problems through a combination of promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative measures, constitutes the key to the ultimate achievement of a healthful society, especially when primary health care is incorporated into the development process, particularly that of developing countries;

2.Notes with approval the decision of the World Health Assembly, contained in resolution WHA 32.30, that the development of the programmes of the World Health Organization and the allocation of its resources at the global, regional and country levels should reflect the commitment of that organization to the priority of the achievement of health for all by the year 2000;/29

3.Calls upon the relevant bodies of the United Nations system to co-ordinate with and support the efforts of the World Health Organization by appropriate actions within their respective spheres of competence;

4.Appeals to Member States to carry out the actions called for in the Declaration of Alma Ata;

5.Reiterates the appeal contained in paragraph 10 of World Health Assembly resolution WHA 32.30 to the international community to give full support to the formulation and implementation of national, regional and global strategies for achieving an acceptable level of health for all;/29

6.Welcomes the decision of the World Health Assembly to ensure that the global strategy shall be reflected in the contribution of the World Health Organization to the preparation of the international development strategy for the third United Nations development decade and calls upon the Preparatory Committee for the New International Development Strategy to give full and careful attention to the contribution of the World Health Organization;

7.Calls upon Member States, both developed countries and developing, to co-operate with each other and with the World Health Organization in the exchange of technological information and expertise in order to facilitate the achievement of the primary health care goals;

8.Requests the Director-General of the World Health Organization, after the sixty-seventh session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization and the thirty-fourth World Health Assembly, to submit a report to the Economic and Social Council, at the appropriate session of 1981, on the progress achieved in the formulation of the global health strategy and calls upon the Council, in turn, to submit recommendations for further action by the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session.

82nd plenary meeting
29 November 1979