Global health inequity and primary care

Sadly, inequalities in health are ubiquitous.1 Signatories to the 1948 World Health Organization (WHO) constitution committed to promoting ‘health for all’ and this foundational global health principle resonates through the Alma-Ata and Astana Declarations.2–4 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) — the contemporary manifestation of health for all — is inextricably linked to primary care, as the delivery of at least ten of the 14 ‘tracer’ services being used to monitor UHC progress are critically dependent on well-functioning primary care services.5 Primary care services also lie at the centre of the broader philosophical approach of Primary Health Care (PHC), which is underpinned by effective multi-sectoral policy, community engagement, and well-integrated, high quality public health and primary care services.3,4 As such, efforts to achieve UHC, deliver PHC, and address health inequities worldwide are fundamentally grounded in the quality and reach of primary care services.6