[The program initiative "general practice" of the Conference of the German Federal Health Ministers. Successes of interventions and possible reasons for the shortage of general practitioners].

The number of general practitioners has clearly decreased over the last 10 years in Germany. The situation is more critical in Eastern Germany compared to Western Germany. The article shows the results of the "program initiative to secure primary care in general practice" of the Conference of the Federal Health Ministers. The authors focus on the situation in Saxony-Anhalt, where they are founders of the Institute of General Medicine at the Universities of Halle-Wittenberg and Magdeburg. They also work as general practitioners.