Approaches to primary health care in the Commonwealth Caribbean

In this article, the authors present a brief review of the health problems of the Commonwealth Caribbean and of the primary care activities being implemented to solve them. Special attention is given to programs which develop new categories of health workers and direct health manpower toward learning a technology appropriate to the conditions in which they work. These programs enable the health worker and allied health personnel to adapt their roles and functions accordingly and thus provide quality health care within limited resources. The main programs are: development of new categories of health workers such as the community health aide and the nurse practitioner; education and training of allied health personnel; the training of primary health care physicians. An account is also given of primary health care in Jamaica and in the smaller territories of the Caribbean.