overview
The concept of PHC has been repeatedly reinterpreted and redefined since 1978, leading to confusion over the term and its practice. Clear and simple definitions have been developed to promote coordination and guide implementation of future PHC initiatives at the global, national and local levels.
“PHC is a society-wide approach to health aimed at ensuring the best possible health and well-being and its equitable distribution by focusing on people's needs, in line with the continuity from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, and close to people's daily environments.” Vision of primary healthcare for the 21st century: towards UHC and SDGS.
PHC includes three interrelated synergistic components, including: A comprehensive integrated health service that embraces primary care and public health products and functions as a central focus. Multisectoral policies and actions to address upstream and broader determinants of health. It appeals and empowers individuals, families and communities to increase social participation and enhance self-care and independence in health.
PHC is rooted in a commitment to social justice, equity, solidarity and participation. The enjoyment of the highest attainable health standards is based on the recognition that it is one of the fundamental rights of all human beings without distinction.
For Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to be truly universal, it requires a shift from a health system designed for people and institutions to be designed for people. The PHC calls for governments at all levels to pursue an approach to health, emphasizing the importance of action across health sectors.
PHC addresses the broader determinants of health and focuses on comprehensive and interrelated aspects of physical, mental and social health and well-being. It provides comprehensive care for your health needs throughout your life, not just a specific set of diseases. Primary health care ensures that people receive quality and comprehensive care as much as possible in their daily lives, from promotion and prevention to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.
Why is primary healthcare important?
Member States are committed to updating and implementing primary healthcare as the basis for UHC, health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainable health systems for health security. PHC provides a “program engine” for UHC, health-related SDGs and health security. This commitment has been codified and repeated in the Astana Declaration, the accompanying World Health Parliament Resolution 72/2, the Global Surveillance Report on the UHC, and the High-Level Declaration of the United Nations General Assembly on the UHC. UHC, health-related SDGs and health security goals are ambitious, but achievable. Progress needs to be accelerated urgently, and PHC provides a way to do so.
PHC is the most comprehensive, fair, cost-effective and efficient approach to improving people's physical and mental health. Evidence of the broad impact of investments in PHC continues to grow worldwide, particularly during times of crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
Around the world, investment in PHC improves equity and access, healthcare performance, health system accountability, and health outcomes. While some of these factors are directly related to access to health systems and services, there is evidence that a wide range of factors beyond health services play an important role in shaping health and well-being. These include social protection, food systems, education, environmental factors, and more.
PHC is also important to make the healthcare system more resilient to situations of crisis, detect early signs of an epidemic, and be more proactive in being prepared to act early in response to a surge in demand for services. Although the evidence is still evolving, there is widespread recognition that PHC is the “front door” of the health system and provides a foundation for strengthening essential public health functions to tackle public health crises such as Covid-19.
Who will respond
Who is helping the country relocate health systems to PHC to achieve UHC, SDG3 and health security. The healthcare system must be human-friendly, context-friendly and purpose-friendly. Strengthening the health system includes strengthening health governance and funding. Health workforce; gender, fairness, rights. Information systems; quality and patient safety; healthy maternal, newborn, children and adolescent health until healthy aging. Sexual and reproductive health; medication and medical supplies; emergency preparation, response, recovery. In particular, we tackle contagious and non-communicable diseases.
Those who have identified three strategic areas to strengthen PHC around the world:
It provides a “one-stop” mechanism for PHC implementation support to member countries, tailoring national contexts and priorities. This includes implementing the PHC operational framework, leveraging investment opportunities from the Covid-19 response, and building a better PHC-based health system during recovery efforts. This core functionality is driven and built by existing work and experience from countries and regions around the world. This work is based on evidence of existing implementation, best practice guidance and implementation solutions, expertise in successful countries, and published literature to drive innovative solutions. Key deliverables include monitoring and measurement guidance to assess the country's PHC progress, followed by a global report on PHC progress, and innovative capacity building efforts as part of the WHO Academy. It promotes the renewal of PHCs through policy leadership, advocacy, government, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, regional development partners, and policy leadership, advocacy and strategic partnerships with national, national and national levels. Among other initiatives, this workstream will establish an external strategic advisory group on PHC to create a PHC award for global recognition of PHC excellence, promoting new PHC partnerships and collaborative networks to advise WHO on PHC updates around the world.
