At the heart of the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata was the recognition that primary
health care forms an integral part of every country’s health system. It brings health
care to people where they live and work and it constitutes the opening element of
a continuing health care process. The Declaration made it clear that to address the
main health needs of people in the community, primary health care must include
promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative services in accordance with
those needs. In this paper, rehabilitation is recognized as a core component of the
health care continuum, as necessary in primary health care, at the gateway to service
delivery as they are in secondary or tertiary care.
