Primary health care

WHO established the Special Programme on Primary Health Care in 2020, following the Global Conference on Primary Health Care and the UN high-level meeting on universal health coverage, where countries declared their commitment to achieving universal health coverage through a primary health care approach.

About us

Health Systems Resilience

Why is resilience important?

Public health shocks, such as Ebola Virus Disease and COVID-19, and everyday stressors highlight the vulnerability of health systems across the world, and the need for an integrated approach to health system strengthening bringing together health security, disease-specific and life course-specific programmes to make progress towards Universal Health Coverage and health security goals.

Developing resilient health systems ensures countries can effectively prevent, prepare for, detect, adapt to, respond to and recover from public health threats while ensuring the maintenance of quality essential and routine health services in all contexts, including in fragile, conflict and violence settings.

The Health Systems Resilience and Essential Public Health Functions Team's cross-cutting functions are achieved through a convergence of health system strengthening and health emergency management in the assimilation and development of conceptual and operational resources, and the provision of support to countries.