Abstract

Since 1978 and in accordance with the Alma Ata Declaration, primary care is described as an integral part of the healthcare system and fundamental to achieve social justice together with development. Time has validated this approach, which can be applied to a broad variety of political, social, cultural, and economic realities. After 25 years, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) suggested revising and adopting a renewed strategy for primary care, so as to include epidemiological challenges, new knowledge and better instruments, with the purpose of enhancing effectiveness of primary care and also as a way of acknowledging that it is a strategy that strengthens a society’s capacity to reduce health inequities. This analysis describes the Chilean reality, taking into account values, principles and essential elements of a healthcare system based on primary care. It also looks at the reforms that are needed in order to redirect health systems towards health outcomes.