Primary health care (PHC) refers to essential health care services provided at the local community level, including health promotion, disease prevention, and treatment of common illnesses. PHC aims to make health care accessible, affordable, and equitable for all through a community-based approach. Key principles of PHC include community participation, intersectoral coordination between health and other sectors, and making available basic services such as maternal/child care, immunization, treatment of common diseases, and ensuring access to safe water and nutrition. PHC forms the first level of contact with the larger health system and aims to deliver fundamental health care that is close to where people live and work.

1. PRIMARY HEALTH
CARE
By: Dr Ayesha Anwer Ali

2. HEALTH
 Health is a state of complete physical,
mental and social well being and not
merely absence of disease or infirmity
(WHO Definition of Health 1984).
 Health is a fundamental human right

3. PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
 Essential health care (first level care) provided
by trained workforce to individuals and families
in the community.
It includes the following:
 health promotion
 illness prevention
 care of the sick
 community development

4. PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
 At the international level, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights established
a breakthrough in 1948, by stating in
Article 25:
 “Everyone has the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and well being
of himself and his family”

5. HEALTH FOR ALL BY YEAR 2000
 WHO – UNICEF (united nations international
children’s emergency fund) arranged
international conference at Alma – Ata; capital
of kazakhstan held between 6-12 September
1978.
 134 governments attended it.
 It was declared that health status of million of
people in developing world is unacceptable and
more than half population has no access to
proper health care.

6.  HEALTH FOR ALL by the year 2000 as the
social goal of all governments.
 Health for all means that health is to be
brought within the reach of every one in a
given community.
 It implies the removal of barriers to health – that
is to say the elimination of
• Malnutrition
• Ignorance
• Disease
• Contaminated water supply
• Unhygienic housing etc.

7. BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF PHC
1. Equity
2. Appropriateness
3. Availability
4. Accessibility
5. Affordability
6. Community participant
7. Intersectoral co-ordination

8. 1. EQUITY
 The first key principle in primary health care
strategy is equity or equitable distribution of
health services.

9. 2. APPROPRIATENESS
 The service has to be properly selected
and carried out by trained personnel in
the proper way.

10. 3. AVAILABILITY
 Availability of medical care means that care
can be obtained whenever people need it

11. 4. ACCESSIBILITY
 PHC services should be within an easy
access.
 should be Reachable and convenient
services

12. 5. AFFORDABILITY
 It should be of low cost, so poor can make
uses of these services.

13. 6. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
 Overall responsibility is of the State.
 The involvement of individuals, families, and
communities in promotion of their own health
is an essential ingredient of primary health
care.

14. 7. INTERSECTORAL COORDINATION
 Health cannot be attained by the health
sector alone.
 It require co-ordination between health sector
and other health related sectors eg.
agriculture, animal husbandry, food, industry,
education, housing, and public works.
 To achieve cooperation, planning at country
level is required to involve all sectors

16. ESSENTIAL
COMPONENT /
ELEMENTS OF PHC

17.  1. Education about health problems and the
methods of identifying, preventing and
controlling them

18.  2. Promotion of food supply and proper
nutrition, an adequate supply of safe water
and basic sanitation

19.  3. Maternal and child health care including
family planning

20.  4. Immunization against major infectious
diseases

21.  5. Prevention and control of locally endemic
diseases
 6. Treatment of common diseases
and injuries

22.  7. Promotion of mental health

23.  8. Supply of essential drugs

24. Levels of Health Care
 There are 3 levels of health care service:
1. Primary care level
2. Secondary care level
3. Tertiary care level

25. PRIMARY CARE LEVEL
 First level of contact of individual, family and
community with health system. It is most
effective and close to the people and
includes:
 Basic Health Unit (BHU),
 Rural Health Center (RHC),
 Clinics
 Resident Medical Officer/trainer
 General Practitioner (GP)

26. SECONDARY CARE LEVEL
 Higher level of care at which more complex
problem are dealt with. It includes:
• DHQ (District headquarter hospital)
• THQ (Tehsil headquarter hospital)
• Health centers

27. TERTIARY CARE LEVEL
 Specialized health care is provided at tertiary
care level. Specific facilities are available.
Specialized health workers are present. It
involves
• Teaching hospitals,
• Specializes hospitals

28. Tertiary Health care
Secondary Health
care
Primary
Health
care

30. THANK YOU!!