Report of the Working Group on Health for All by 2000 A.D.

The government of India appointed the Working Group on Health for All by 2000 A.D. on July 18, 1980, with Kripa Narain – secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the time – as its chairperson.As a signatory to the Declaration of Alma Mata, the report observes, India committed to attaining ‘Health for All’ by the year 2000. (The Declaration was adopted on September 12, 1978, at the International Conference on Primary Health Care in Alma-Ata, USSR.)The Working Group was to review the status of health in India and the government’s existing health programmes; evolve an outline for health programmes in the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980 to 1985) to achieve ‘Health for All’; and suggest programmes for rural and tribal areas, as well as slum dwellers.The Working Group appointed five sub-groups to fulfil its objectives,: the Sub-Group on Meaning of Health for All in the Background of India’s Health Needs, Indices to be Achieved by 2000 A.D., Plan-wise Planning of Indices, and Strategies to be Followed to Achieve Health for All by 2000 A. D.; the Sub-Group on Inter-Sectoral Coordination to Achieve Health for All by 2000 A.D.; the Sub-Group on Community Involvement to Achieve Health for All by 2000 A.D.; the Sub-Group on the Role of Voluntary Organisations to Achieve Health for All by 2000 A.D.; and the Sub-Group on Health Services Organisation to Achieve Health for All by 2000 A.D.The report contains a preface (chapter 1), an introduction (chapter 2), and the reports of the five sub-groups (chapter 3).