Analyzing the Role of Primary Health Care in Global Health Delivery

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the role of primary health care (PHC) in global health delivery. It emphasizes PHC's focus on the well-being of individuals, families, and communities, encompassing physical, social, and mental health. The essay defines PHC, highlighting its evolution and core components as defined by the WHO, including preventive, curative, and promotive care, addressing health determinants, and empowering individuals. It underscores the cost-effectiveness of PHC and its significance in achieving global health goals, particularly in the context of economic, demographic, and technological changes. The essay details key elements of PHC, such as education, disease control, immunization, maternal and child health, and access to essential medicines. It also highlights the importance of a multisectoral approach and the role of PHC in achieving sustainable development goals. Finally, the essay discusses the WHO's efforts in supporting countries to strengthen their PHC systems and achieve health goals globally, emphasizing inclusive policies and addressing health inequities.

ROLE OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE IN GLOBAL HEALTH DELIVERY
The concept of the primary healthcare revolves around the health of the whole society. It also
focuses on the well-being of the individual’s choices and requirements as well as both families and
communities. It directs the wide range of health factors and pay heed towards the complete and
relatable aspects of the physical, social and mental well-being.
Primary health care meant to provide the whole set of the health solutions to a person throughout
his life time not for a specific set of a disease for a specific period of time. Primary health care
makes it sure that people receive proper health facilities ranging from promotion and prevention
to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, according to the people’s every day routine and
environment.
The concept of the primary health care is derived from the term like social justice and equity as
well as the recognition of the fundamental rights of the human being to achieve highest health
goals as described in the Article 25 of the Universal declaration of the Human Rights “
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of
himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary
social services”
The idea of primary health care has gone through many changes and modifications and then
interpreted again and again over time. Sometimes it is interpreted as the provision of ambulatory
or first level of personal health care services. In other terms it is also defines as the priority health
facilities for low income population (also named as selective primary health care). Other believe
that primary healthcare is important for the development of human beings, because it plays a vital
role in economic, social and political well being of individuals.
WHO has given a very comprehensive definition of the primary health care based upon three
components:
a- The 1st part covers the meeting the people’s health through preventive, palliative,
protective, and curative care through out their life span and make arrangements for the
health care assistance at hand for the individuals and families through primary health care
b- The second part concerned with the ermining of factors of health such as social.
Environmental, economic, as well people behavior and habits through proper study and
proofs and then guiding people about them through public policies
c- The third and most important part if it is to empower people, individual, societies and
communities to look after their health problems, giving them confidence as they are the
advocates of the all the programs and actions that promote health and well-being.
As far as the importance of the primary health care is concerned it is pivotal point of the health
care and not limited to any one person, society or community, but it meant to develop the policies,
and actions that can serve as the basis of the health of the whole population of the world. The most
important aspect of the primary health care is that it is cost effective solution for any country. It is
program that is beyond the traditional methods and bring equity in health through several social

policies. But to achieve better services of health, primary health care relies of few basic elements
or objectives, these are as follows,
1-Education of all existing health problems, their identification and having knowledge of
preventing and controlling them.
2- know how of the Locally endemic disease, their prevention as well as control.
3- strong and extended program for immunization against infectious diseases.
4- both mother and child physical and mental health as well family planning
5- Arrangement of the first aid drugs
6- provision of nutritious and healthy food
7- treatment of communicable and non- communicable diseases and mental health issues
8- safe water and sanitation
By keeping the close eye on the all the eight elements of the primary health care, we will come to
know, it provides a complete set of rules and methods, through which a country can make policies
and programs. These also provide a lay out to look after the factors which are necessary for the
optimum growth of the human development, hence affecting or changing their economic and social
status. Every country can make it sown program keeping the above factors into mind and these
programs can be cost effective as well. So, indirectly, we can say that the golden elements of the
primary health care are contributing to the health of the whole globe.
The WHO has discussed the importance of the primary health care to achieve the global health is
as follows:
Primary health care is most promising to respond to if any economical, demographic and
technological changes takes place, and it is affecting the health of human beings. According to
recent studies, it has inferred that the child mortality between the 1990-2010 has greatly reduced
because of the factors which are not especially associated with the health sector but with water,
education and economic growth. Primary health care lure stake holders to look into the policies,
critically analyze them or change them if necessary, to improve the social, economic, commercial
factors affecting the well being of the health of any person around the globe. It also emphasizes to
treat people and communities as key actors for the well being of their own health and prepare them
to respond to the complexities of the changing world.
According to WHO primary health care has proven itself a highly successful and potent to deal the
main causes and risks of the bad health and well-being in today’s world. Besides this it also has
capacity to deal the all the challenges to health that threaten the health. It is an investment of great
deal, in which the no new hospital has to be constructed all the time, patients have to be admitted
to the hospital in slight ailment. Hence is cost effective strategy. But to deal such a pile of health
challenges, it asks for a multisectoral approach that combine all the health promotive and
preventive policies, solutions that are useful for communities, and all the health services that are
people oriented. Primary health also includes all the arrangements that improve the health security

of the people and prevent them from the epidemics and antimicrobial resistance, by taking into
account measures such as guiding and educating people, rational prescribing, and a basic set of
principles required for public health functioning, such as surveillance. This whole practice of
strengthening health system at the community and peripheral health facility level help to create
resilience and prevent the health system from any severe shock.
A powerful primary health care system is also required for health-related Sustainable Development
Goals and universal health coverage. As the achievement of this goal will help to achieve other
objectives such as poverty, hunger, education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation,
reducing inequality and climate action.
It is quite obvious from the above whole discussion primary health care carries the prime
importance in the well-being of the society and community. these communities further unite to
combine the to make cities, provinces and countries. If all these arrangements are present at the
very basic level and every country follow the suit or the objectives given by the primary health
care policies such as education , knowledge of local epidemics, control over reproductive health,
arrangements for physical and mental health , as well as the provision of life saving basic drugs,
and most importantly a solid plan at the governmental level with complete political will to pursue
that plan will help to improve the health of all the people of any country. This agenda of primary
health can be taken up by countries all around the globe hence contributing to the health of the
people on the planet Earth.
In this context it is important to mention to the working of the WHO, because it is working with
the countries worldwide to improve the health of the people. It put emphasis on the central role of
the primary health care and motivate them to achieve the health goals. It works with them to
a- Identification of primary health areas which requires urgent attention for health
improvement and draw technical expertise across WHO.
b- It help the counties to develop inclusive policies , with the help of country leadership and
health system based on primary health care which promotes health for all and work towards
Sustainable Developmental Goals and global health.
c- It curbs the inequity issues and other factors affecting health through multisectoral
approach.