[10 years' activity of the IUHE (International Union for Health Education)]

During the 1975-85 decade, health education has taken on a new dimension, particularly after the Alma-Ata conference on primary health care (PHC). The enlarged concept of PHC has contributed to the evolution of the policy of the International Union for Health Education (IUHE). The IUHE has today five main objectives: 1) assert the role of health education in the socio-economic development of communities; 2) facilitate, by organizing lectures, seminars and working groups, exchanges between those responsible for the sanitary aspects of socio-economic development; 3) take part in increasing the knowledge concerning the role of education in the promotion, protection and recovery of health; 4) ensure the international circulation of publications and research pertaining to health education; 5) develop working relations with international organizations as well as NGOs and governments. The policy of the IUHE has evolved together with the concept of health education and this has meant structural changes: involving the regionalization of its activities through five regional offices. The IUHE services its members today through five regional offices: the one for Africa, operational since 1976; the one for North America, created in 1977; the South East Asian regional bureau, founded in 1983; the European bureau which was opened in 1968; and the bureau for the Northern part of Western Pacific which is only one year old and has its headquarters in Seoul (Republic of Korea). This new structure has enabled the IUHE to considerably develop its activities throughout the world.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)