......Riding on the international recognition of the success of Barefoot Doctors model, the Chinese delegate to the WHO then suggested an international conference to discuss the issue.

The Alma Ata Declaration

The result, after much debate, was the Alma Ata Conference of 1978 where the principles of Primary Health Care were formally defined......

The system of barefoot doctors was among the most important inspirations for the WHO conference in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan in 1978 where the Alma Ata Declaration was signed unanimously. This was hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough in international health ideology - it called for local communities participating in deciding health care priorities, called for an emphasis on primary health care and preventive medicine, and most importantly sought to link medicine with trade, economics, industry, rural politics and other political and social areas.