Primary health care (PHC) is again high on the
international agenda. It was the theme of The
World Health Report in 2008, thirty years after the
Alma-Ata Declaration, and has been the topic of a
series of significant conferences around the world
throughout 2008. What have we learnt about its
impact in improving population health and health
equity? What more do we still need to know? These
two questions framed a four-year international
research/capacity-building project, “Revitalizing
Health for All” (RHFA), funded by the Canadian
Global Health Research Initiative, which began in 2007. The findings of a global literature review conducted by this Initiative, and focusing on comprehensive primary health care - and how it has been implemented since Alma Ata are presented. The way in which the political context has affected the comprehensiveness of PHC is considered - along with a series of proposed future PHC research areas.