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Newsletter of the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care
Issue 6 I December 2022
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear friends and colleagues,
Here we are at the end of a productive year, a year in which some of us were able to meet in person – thanks to the opportunity and the teamwork. During the year, the Special Programme welcomed some new staff members; deepened collaboration with key partners and allies; and succeeded to provide direct technical inputs through various field missions contributing to the regional debates and national discussions, exploring new partnerships and collaborative avenues, participating in the COVID-19 vaccine delivery partnership, and the Universal Health Period Review–to name a few.
On the technical front, our highlights are the release of the Primary Health Care (PHC) Measurement Framework and indicators, monitoring health system through a PHC lens; the development of a training programme on leadership and change management, applying a PHC approach, through the WHO Academy platform; finalizing the concept of the PHC implementation solutions–a menu for action based on country examples; and preparing the country case studies including evidence synthesis of PHC approach in the context of COVID-19 pandemic response. In the partnership arena, we lately signed the agreement to extend our current collaboration with the European Union to ensure continued support to 119 countries on health system strengthening for Universal Health Coverage (UHC)–this is the biggest partnership on UHC in WHO with focus on country-level impact. And our inter-agency work in the format of the PHC-Accelerator of the SDG3-GAP has grown to become a venue for thematic discussion and country-led dialogues. Thanks to all of you for your support in shaping and delivering the work.
Looking forward to 2023, we will build on the existing programme of work within WHO and with relevant partners, stakeholders, and allies. We know that we can only meaningfully do that together with you.
On behalf of the entire team of the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care, I wish you happy holidays and the very best for 2023!
Warmly,
Suraya Dalil, MD, MPH
Director, WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care
Policy update
WHO Director-General's keynote speech at the Opening Ceremony of the World Health Summit
16 October 2022
"By and large, the world’s health systems do not deliver health care. They deliver sick care.
Many countries spend huge sums treating diseases that could be prevented for a fraction of the cost.
That’s why I am calling on all countries to make a paradigm shift towards promoting health and preventing disease, recognizing that health starts not in hospitals and clinics, but in homes, streets, schools, workplaces.
Making this shift requires a reorientation and rebalancing of health systems towards primary health care, as the foundation of universal health coverage and health security.
It also requires changes in how governments approach health, and fund it.
Health can no longer be just the business of the health ministry or the health sector, but of the whole of government, and the whole of society."
Programme updates from the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care
The WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care and the Universal Health Coverage Partnership actively supported this year's UHC Day campaign with events across the world. The main events led by WHO were held at the WHO at the Global Management Meeting in Geneva for WHO staff, an on-stage event at the FIFA World Cup in Doha and a week-long forum on primary health care in Cairo. This year’s campaign was an innovative way to mark UHC Day while kicking off the countdown to the 2023 UHC High-Level meeting at UNGA. In addition, it was a great start to WHO’s 75th birthday which builds on the UHC Day theme and calls for action for Health For All!
On 30 November, WHO and the EU agreed on reinforcing a decade-long collaboration to accelerate the achievement of Universal Health Coverage. The letter of intent foresees an additional contribution of €125 million for the continuation of WHO’s work implemented through the UHC Partnership. This will focus on strengthening health systems to make them more resilient and responsive to natural, climate or human-made disasters.
The WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care contributed to recently launched technical brief, led by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use. The brief builds on the Primary Health Care Operational Framework linking the intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders and recommend actions for policy makers and other stakeholders including programme managers in health, social protection, education, human rights and other sectors.
The IA2030 Strategic Priority 1 on immunization programmes for Primary Health Care and Universal Health Coverage has launched a new Framework for Action, organized by the Geneva Learning Foundation. This framework provides examples of good practices from a range of countries and practical actions that immunization and PHC professionals at all levels of the health system can take.
This joint WHO and USAID report summarizes the current status of national public health institutions in Africa in contributing to the health system strengthening and resilience through the lens of Essential Public Health Functions; and identifies good practices and priorities for policy actions in the efforts for building institutions learning from COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, WHO worked with countries and other partners to fight outbreaks and eliminate diseases, while building toward the goal of health for all. This article presents a selection of a few news items from countries as 2022 bright spots.
Primary Health Care mission to Thailand
Building on the WHO South-Asia Regional Strategy on Primary Health Care (2022-30), the regional office organized a workshop attended by ministries of health, partners, academia, research, and community-based organizations in Bangkok 29-30 November. This resulted in the creation of a Regional Forum on PHC, which is expected to bring together ministries of health, knowledge partners, and implementation partners in an effort to connect from knowledge to learning, and from learning to implementation. The workshop participants visited three levels of care in the Bang Pa-in district of Thailand to learn about the health system orientation and delivery of care. The Director and members of the Special Programme on Primary Health Care attended the workshop.
New videos
Updates from the WHO regional offices
From the WHO European Region
Each year on 12 December, WHO/Europe marks Universal Health Coverage Day by calling on world leaders and everyone in society to accelerate investments towards health for all – a world in which everyone can access the quality health care they need, when they need it, without experiencing financial hardship.
WHO European Centre for Primary Health Care hosts a talk show series titled, "Let's Talk Primary Health Care"
Receive fresh content, invitations to talk shows and training sessions, new PHC research and best practice, and a lot of PHC inspiration.
From the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region
In line with the theme of this year’s UHC Day “Build the World We Want: A Healthy Future for All”, the WHO Regional Office organized a regional meeting on “Primary health care for universal health coverage and health security in the Eastern Mediterranean Region” from 11–15 December in Cairo.
The meeting was attended by more than 100 participants, bringing together a range of stakeholders from government, the private sector, donors, academia and the health sector to:
- renew commitment to achieving UHC and
health security through PHC;
- share country experiences on the role of PHC in health emergencies;
- reach consensus on an implementation agenda for the 7 regional priorities;
- highlight ongoing work and progress on various health initiatives.
"Health care and health services are not a privilege, but a fundamental human right."
Message of Dr Suraya Dalil, Director, WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care
From the WHO/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
PAHO organized a series of regional and country level events to celebrate UHC day under the motto: “Forge the world we want: A healthy future for all.”
One of the main events was a high-level meeting on 12 December, which sought to deepen the debate on guaranteeing a post pandemic social development agenda that includes and develops society’s and health system’s resilience capacity as a fundamental attribute to protect the life and well-being of the people of the Region.
From the WHO South-East Asia Region
The activities to celebrate International UHC Day 2022 conducted by WHO SEARO served as a platform for the Region to crystalize lesson learned from the past; to strengthen the present capacity; and to prepare for a better future of population health through efforts of stakeholders; under the theme ‘Health for All through All for Health’ The Series consists of four activity groups: UHC We Want, UHC We Have, UHC We Should, and UHC We Can. Each activity group has its own objective and deliverables, all contributary to overall general objective and expectations.
From the WHO Western Pacific Region
In the past two decades, the UHC service coverage index in the Western Pacific Region, which marks progress on increasing access to essential health services, has increased from 49 in 2000 to 80 in 2019. However, inequities in service coverage and financial hardship exist in many countries, especially among vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.
UHC Day is an opportunity to celebrate progress and raise awareness for what is required to deliver essential health care for families and communities everywhere. This Universal Health Coverage Day marks the kick-off of WHO’s 75th anniversary of making health for all a reality and the countdown to the high-level meeting on UHC taking place at the UN General Assembly in 2023.
Partner highlights
PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS
Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All
While 2022 is coming to an end, multilateral agencies are working jointly towards the goal of the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Wellbeing for All, also known as SDG3 Global Action Plan (SDG3 GAP), which aims to help countries accelerate progress on the health-related SDG targets, through strengthening collaboration across the agencies and providing coordinated support aligned to country owned and led national plans and strategies.
As part of the way in which the SDG3 GAP monitors its progress, governments, through a short annual questionnaire are asked what their perspectives are on how well development partners align to their national strategies and how well development partners collaborate with each other. The tool allows governments to rate alignment and collaboration and provides concrete suggestions for improvement (please see here for more information Progress Report 2022). This tool was presented as a solution to strengthen country voice and leadership at the 2022 Effective Development Cooperation Summit (12–14 December 2022) in Geneva.
The European Commission, in its recently published EU Global Strategy - Better Health for All in a Changing Wolrd, highlights the importance of strengthened engagement with key global health stakeholders as a guiding principle and notes that it will continue to advocate for strong collaboration and setting shared goals citing the SDG3 GAP as an example.
Evidence is growing on how unifying multilateral partners increases impact, the case study of SDG3 GAP implementation in South Sudan is one example.
At the Seventh Global Symposium on Health Systems Research many of the UHC2030 Related Initiatives showcased current outcomes and efforts in making health systems more equitable and resilient.
Related resources
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Faculty of Public Health and Policy seminar series
”Primary Health Care - the heart of every health system”, is a 10-part online seminar series hosted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) running from October 2022 to July 2023. It provides an overview of the key features and functions of PHC, the potential of PHC in all health systems and its role in achieving universal health coverage. It is free to access and open to all. To find out more about the PHC interest group at LSHTM you can sign up to the mailing list here.
Health for All Film Festival - 4th edition in 2023: New call for short films from 31 October 2022 to 31 January 2023
Films are a powerful way to raise awareness, improve understanding and encourage positive behaviour changes, that’s why the Health for All Film Festival (HAFF) recruits year after year a new generation of film and video innovators to champion and promote health issues.
Visit the primary health care web page for more information on WHO's work to support countries in strengthening their health systems and accelerate the delivery of universal health coverage.
