Chapter 6 of Agenda 21 focuses on the extremely important issue of health, and especially on the need for primary health care. It urges also that greater emphasis be put on prevention programmes. To reach the overall objectives, five programme areas are identified and are quoted in their entirety:

1. Meeting primary health care needs, particularly in rural areas;
   
2. Control of communicable diseases;
   
3. Protecting vulnerable groups;
   
4. Meeting the urban health challenge;
   
5. Reducing health risks from environmental pollution and hazards.

The magnitude of the tasks in each programme area can be overcome only through collaboration among countries, both developed and developing, and public and private international organizations.

A population in good health is at the core of all development efforts and family planning programmes. Between 1969 and 1995, the Fund allocated more than $3.7 billion in grant assistance to developing countries. In 1996, it devoted almost 50 per cent of its total programme allocations to reproductive health and family planning and additionally nearly 20 per cent to information, education and communication related to population and reproductive health. Measures aimed at improving maternal and child health are integrated into family planning programmes and vice versa. The Fund has also set in motion a number of activities aimed at preventing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). A major portion of UNFPA programme assistance goes to the World Health Organization (WHO), with which UNFPA has collaborated closely from the very beginning. It has also collaborated with a number of other United Nations agencies and organizations, notably UNICEF, in the field of reproductive health, MCH/FP. The Fund has also worked with NGOs that have activities in the field of health, women, population and development.