Universal Health (UHC) and Primary Health Care (PHC)—A complex dynamic endeavor

This editorial is written on the Universal Health Coverage Day on 12
December 2021—the annual rallying point for the Health for All
movement.1 It marks the anniversary of the United Nations’ historic
and unanimous endorsement of universal health coverage (UHC) in
2012. UHC means that all individuals and communities receive the
health services they need without suffering financial hardship. It includes
the full spectrum of essential, quality health services, from
health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative
care across a life course.1 Together with the World Bank, WHO
has developed a framework to track the progress of UHC by monitoring
two of its key dimensions: access to essential services and costs
(the amount of financial burden incurred by populations).
Primary health care was defined as Health for All at Alma Ata.2
Numerous reports demonstrate that primary health care improves
population health across diverse countries and systems, going beyond
the typical medical model into addressing social determinants of
health.3,4 The current UHC agenda is essentially a Primary Health
Care (PHC) population and community‐based strategy to provide a
range of lower‐cost, highly impactful care services to achieve equitable
health outcomes.1
The UHC (PHC) indicators1 are the level and equity of coverage
in all countries of:
• Reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health: family planning;
maternity care; child immunization; and health‐seeking behaviour for
pneumonia.
• Infectious diseases: tuberculosis treatment; HIV antiretroviral treatment;
use of insecticide‐treated bed nets for malaria prevention; and
adequate sanitation.
• Noncommunicable diseases: prevention and treatment of hypertension
and raised blood glucose levels; cervical cancer screening; and
tobacco smoking cessation.
• Service capacity and access: basic hospital access; health worker
density; access to essential medicines; and health security.1 ( Please click the link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35023270/