From prevention to progressive and chronic illness

PHC was designed particularly to deal with prevention/health promotion and with infectious diseases associated with poverty, poor sanitation and certain insect vectors. Although these illnesses persist, there is growing pressure on health systems to address other problems. One dramatic change has been the transformation of HIV infection into a chronic and progressive disease for which people can claim entitlement to treatment. People are also affected by other chronic conditions, associated with ageing and “lifestyle” changes. This raises difficult questions about which treatments are appropriate, who should pay for them and how health systems should be organised to help people manage long-term conditions.