Your Excellency Minister Tsoy,
Excellencies, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you, Your Excellency, for the kind introduction.
I commend Kazakhstan’s sustained commitment to primary health care, beginning with the Declaration of Alma-Ata in 1978, for your leadership in the Declaration of Astana two years ago, and for co-hosting today’s event.
I would also like to thank Your Excellency Sarangerel Davaajantsan, Minister of Health of Mongolia, for joining us today, and we look forward to your statement.
And I would like to acknowledge the participation of several other Ministerial delegations and partners in this event.
Thank you, my sister Henrietta, for your strong partnership to support countries in the renewal of primary health care.
Thank you all for joining us today as we launch the Operational Framework on Primary Health Care: Transforming Vision Into Action.
In the Declaration of Astana, countries and partners committed to building health systems based on primary health care and the principles of solidarity, equity and social justice.
Primary health care is relevant in all countries as the foundation of universal health coverage.
Primary health care emphasizes community-based health services, designed to meet the needs and preferences of people throughout their life course.
Crucially, it is not only about treating illness.
It’s about providing integrated and comprehensive services for prevention, health promotion, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, where and when people need them – close to where they live.
Effective primary health care ensures people’s participation in decision-making and enhances community engagement. This helps to build demand, create trust, and improve social cohesion.
A comprehensive primary health care approach includes primary care – the first contact of the health system with the population – but goes beyond it.
Primary health care is also about tackling the economic, social and environmental determinants of health, and in addressing health inequities.
We have seen repeatedly that primary health care drives improvements in immunization, communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal health and nutrition.
We have seen many examples where health systems built on robust primary health care are able to deliver efficiently, effectively and equitably, both during normal times and during disease outbreaks.
There is still much work to be done. Almost half the world’s population does not have access to essential health services, and the pandemic has only made things worse.
I am glad to announce that WHO has prioritized its focus on primary health care with the creation of a Special Programme that will work in innovative ways to harness expertise from across WHO.
The creation of this Special Programme is part of the WHO Transformation, to support Member States in strengthening primary health care in new and improved ways.
As I have said before, inequalities do not exist in silos, and neither should our strategies. Our Primary Health Care Special Programme will not work in silos.
Primary health care is not only to help us with the health problems of today, it is the keystone to our preparations for the health emergencies of the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stern reminder that strong primary health care, as the foundation of universal health coverage, is the best defence against health emergencies.
A strong health system is a resilient health system. Primary health care is an investment in the future.
Thank so you all for being with us today and for your commitment to primary health care.
Working together, we can build a safer, healthier world for all of us.
I thank you.