Implementing the primary health care approach: a primer

This 2024 publication consolidates the global evidence on implementation and is a guide on the “how” of PHC, combining, as it does, best practices, and the tacit knowledge that countries have generated, with more formal research and analysis. The Primer is organized in three parts. Part I explains the PHC approach, its history, core concepts and rationale, and draws out lessons for transformation. Part II addresses operational and strategic levers that make PHC work. Part III concludes with a cross-cutting view of the impacts of PHC on the health system, efficiency, quality of care, equity, access, financial protection and health systems resilience, including in the face of climate change