Primary health care is ‘primary’ for a reason.

National, regional and global actors to prioritize primary health care as a 3-for-1 investment in universal health coverage, health security and better health and well-being. All three of these goals depend on the same health systems, and primary health care is their common foundation. For more than 40 years, the world has made ambitious commitments to create a healthy future for all – from the Declarations of Astana (2018) and Alma-Ata (1978), to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2015) to the UHC Political Declaration (2019), which has been referred to as the most comprehensive set of health commitments ever adopted. Along the way, global leaders have repeatedly recognized primary health care (PHC) – an approach that can reach every community and meet the vast majority of people’s health needs throughout their lives – as the foundation of strong health systems and the key to greater wellbeing, social and economic prosperity, and equity.