| In 1972, the Costa Rican government in cooperation with UNICEF launched a plan to upgrade rural health standards. Some 65.6% of the country's population lives in rural areas, an estimated 20% of these in communities of fewer than 500 inhabitants. Several steps have been taken toward implementing the programme. It is hoped that by the end of the decade, socioeconomic improvements will provide the necessary infrastructure for the extension of basic health care delivery systems to a broader rural area. "Minimum integral health services" include the following: malaria eradication, general sanitation, vaccination against communicable diseases, maternal and infant care, family counseling, statistical information, preventive medicine, training of auxiliary health workers, and community development. The elements making up the programme, methods of achieving the goals of the programme, and methods for evaluating the results are described. |