Primary Healthcare Services

Primary healthcare aims to increase community and individual access to healthcare by locating facilities close to workplaces and residences. It uses scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technologies. The fundamental principle is that every individual worldwide has a right to the best possible health level.

Primary healthcare provides comprehensive, accessible, community-based care including primary care, maternal and child healthcare, family planning, mental health services, and immunization programs. It closely monitors risk factors, performs tests, and confirms diagnoses right in the community, meeting people's health needs throughout their lifetime.

Primary healthcare uses multi-sectoral policies and actions to address social, economic, environmental, and commercial determinants of health. It provides education on maintaining health and safety in public spaces, workplaces, and public transportation, recognizing that health outcomes depend on factors beyond medical care alone.

Primary healthcare empowers communities, families, and individuals to take responsibility for their health by encouraging increased social participation and improved self-care. It guides people on physical activities and nutrition, enabling them to take ownership of their own health and make informed decisions.

Primary healthcare is delivered through physician offices, public health clinics, school nursing, and community health nursing settings. These locations promote wellness and prevent disease through health promotion, education, protection such as immunizations, early disease screening, and environmental considerations for community members.

Primary healthcare serves as the health system's front door and foundation for enhancing public health activities during crises. It makes health systems more robust to emergency circumstances, more proactive in detecting early epidemic indicators, and better prepared to respond quickly to surges in service demand.

The 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration was the first to call for immediate and effective national and international action to create and implement primary healthcare worldwide. The 2018 Global Conference on Primary Health Care in Astana endorsed primary healthcare as the most effective strategy for achieving universal health coverage and sustainable development goals.