Home

The 2008 Conference marks the thirtieth anniversary of the WHO/UNICEF Conference on Primary Health Care held in Alma Ata, USSR (now Kazakhstan). Primary Health Care remains the strategy of WHO for achieving Health for All and is the philosophy informing South Africa's health policies. There is currently renewed interest globally in Primary Health Care and the potential of this approach to address continuing health and health care challenges, not least in addressing the major problems of HIV, TB and malaria. PHASA is dedicating its 2008 Conference to PHC in recognition of the above and in the hope that research presented and ensuing discussions will assist in defining more precisely the role of Public Health in developing PHC to implement South Africa's bold health policies.

PHASA has an active membership across South Africa which includes clinical health care workers, representatives from various schools of public health, demographers, epidemiologists, health analysts and health economists. We are a prominent role-player in health issues locally and have hosted a biennial conference since our inception. To date we have successfully hosted three national conferences, the most recent one in Johannesburg in 2006.

We are a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations and are currently participants in the revitalisation of ECSAPHA (East, Central and Southern African Public Health Associations), an association of regional public health institutions. PHASA enjoys good relations with both national and local Departments of Health in South Africa.