PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE AND MEDICAL PLURALISM EXEMPLIFIED IN NEPAL - A PROPOSAL FOR MAXIMIZING HEALTH-CARE BENEFIT

Health Care (PHC) has been the thrust of most developing countries in an attempt to improve the overall health status of the general populat ion. PHC, however, faces a number of problems. One of the most importa nt, according to this paper, is due to the widespread presence and use of indigenous medicine. Several social scientists have stressed the i ncorporation of modern (PHC) and indigenous health care services, and a number of strategies have been suggested time to time. This paper ar gues that these strategies overlooked certain basic issues. It propose s a new approach that focuses on using limited health resources in dev eloping countries for implementing intensive public health including h ealth education measures, and using modern health services as a supple ment to indigenous health care resources.