[The voluntary health auxiliary. Application to the Peruvian Altiplano of new concepts of primary health care in disadvantaged communities].

A group a Swiss physicians, who have been working for about eight years in rural health posts of the Peruvian highlands (Altiplano), engaged in training voluntary health auxiliaries, chosen by the indigenous communities. Experience has shown that, as in other countries, it is thus possible to markedly improve the health of populations which badly lack resources. The efficacy of using such auxiliaries was recognized by the Peruvian Ministry of Health, which has now set up a programme for their training and supervision. Within the concept of primary health care, based on the participation of people to the management of their health, the voluntary health auxiliary is placed in a strategic and decisive position for the success of an enterprise which is now spreading to many countries of the Third World.