The Pholela Health Centre--the origins of community-oriented primary health care (COPC) . An appreciation of the work of Sidney and Emily Kark
Tollman, S.M.
South African Medical Journal 84(10): 653-658
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0256-9574 PMID: 7839251 Document Number: 434210
The health centre practice pioneered by Sidney and Emily Kark and their colleagues at Pholela during the 1940s was a forerunner of and direct contributor to what later emerged as 'the primary health care approach'. This article gives a detailed account of the context, work and methodologies used at the Pholela Health Centre, emphasising the development of concepts that are now well recognised and described as community-oriented primary health care (COPC). COPC remains highly relevant to health service development in South Africa today.