This is a background paper prepared for a symposium held at the King's Fund. Its aims were to: consider the significance of recent and current research on the role of primary care teams in promoting public health; identify the areas where further research is needed; share and consider the experiences of public health consultants and public health specialists and of GPs, nurses and other primary care practitioners in relation to their experiences in promoting public health in primary care; explore strengths, weaknesses, problems and opportunities in developing effective capacity within primary care teams to promote public health; and consider the implications for policy and practice of the above points. After the symposium, a report on primary care and public health will be produced.