PHC stands for Primary Health Care, which is a whole-of-society approach to health that aims at ensuring the highest possible level of health and well-being and their equitable distribution by focusing on people’s needs and as early as possible along the continuum from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care, and as close as feasible to people’s everyday environment. PHC is based on scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology, making universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community. It is the most inclusive, equitable, cost-effective, and efficient approach to enhance people’s physical and mental health, as well as social well-being.

PHC initiatives allow for the full participation of community members in implementation and decision making, and services are provided at a cost that the community and the country can afford at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. PHC includes all areas that play a role in health, such as access to health services, environment, and lifestyle. Thus, primary healthcare and public health measures, taken together, may be considered as the cornerstones of universal health systems.

PHC is critical to make health systems more resilient to situations of crisis, more proactive in detecting early signs of epidemics, and more prepared to act early in response to surges in demand for services. Although the evidence is still evolving, there is widespread recognition that PHC is the “front door” of the health system and provides the foundation for the strengthening of the essential public health functions to confront public health challenges.