The impact of PHC on resilience and environmental sustainability; country illustrations from Canada and Mexico (Chapter 16)

"Chapter 16 of the report “Implementing the primary health care (PHC) approach: a primer” captures country illustrations from Canada and Mexico on the impact of PHC on resilience and environmental sustainability.

The case study from Canada provides an overview of the ongoing efforts to strengthening environmental sustainability of the health system, exemplified by the program Creating a Sustainable Canadian Health System in a Climate Crisis (CASCADES). The need for action was made clear by the COP26 in 2021. Canada is also working on reducing overuse of medicines and health care, as it is one of their major concerns and incorporating Social Prescribing (inspired by the United Kingdom) as ways to strengthen environmental sustainability.

The case study from Mexico provides an overview of the weaknesses in the primary care system contributing to poor outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a case-specific excess mortality during the pandemic, and it is explained by a weak coordination across providers and payers, weak access to primary care and fragmented patient care pathway. It severely affected patient outcomes and a recovery policy implemented in April 2021 tried to compensate for the missed primary care, but results were mixed. This exemplifies the importance of a strong PHC approach to build a resilient health care system.