Primary health care development: where is Nepal after 30 years of Alma Ata Declaration?

The year 2008 has witnessed the global conversation to return to tenets of Alma-Ata and to review its 30 years of journey. We reviewed Nepal's journey on Primary Health Care development: policy formulation, structure development, progress and constraints. Though Nepal has institutionalised the PHC approach in health policy, strategy and health care delivery system, this has not been effectively translated into actions, and the results are mixed. Nepal has gained impressive achievements in selective primary health care markers: 45.43% maternal mortality and 62.34% child mortality reduction during 1990-2005. But gain in comprehensive health care markers is not impressive: 18.7% Skilled Birth Attendant (4% in poorest quintile and 45% in richest quintile), 39% having access to improved sanitation and 55.7% of females are literate as compared to males. Socio-political environment until recently was not favourable for comprehensive primary health care, allowing limited health sector decentralisation and community empowerment. Health activities were focussed more on selective health care strategy in the form of disease control, immunisation, vitamin A supplementation, oral rehydration solution use and contraceptive use. Nepal's rural hilly geography posed great challenge on logistic supply, communication and retention of health workers rendering public health centres of low quality with negative perceptions of consumers. Nepal is on the pathway to build equitable comprehensive primary health care.