Allies Improving Primary Health Care
A community of 125+ organizations advocating for strong primary health care for all.
Primary health care is 'primary' for a reason. It is the foundation of strong health systems that can deliver quality, integrated, people-centered care in every community – which is vital to global health security, universal health coverage, and Health for All.
The Allies Improving PHC –– 125+ organizations from 35+ countries –– are a group of global and local organizations who committed to advocate for strong primary health care. They represent a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society organizations across countries and issue areas, health workers and patient advocacy groups, international NGOs and schools of public health, researchers and private sector representatives, and more. View the Allies Improving PHC membership as of March 2023 below.
In joining, all Allies Improving PHC pledged to:
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Promote primary health care as the foundation of strong health systems and universal health coverage by actively and consistently speaking out at key national and global health moments;
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Identify and exchange opportunities for collective action to drive policies and investments, grounded in data and evidence, that can help build resilient PHC systems that serve all people;
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Mainstream a primary health care approach within own organization's strategy, advocacy, and programming.
In September 2022, the Allies launched an Open Letter urging action on primary health care as a 3-for-1 investment in universal health coverage, health security, and better health and well-being, ultimately signed by 239 organizations and 157 individuals across 65 countries. Additionally, in 2022, several Allies received micro-grants from the PHCPI Secretariat in support of their advocacy work -- view results from those projects here and here.
In March 2023, after the conclusion of the PHCPI Secretariat, PATH – an inaugural member of the Allies, co-host of the launch of the Allies' Open Letter, and longtime partner in championing primary health care – offered to continue hosting the Allies Improving PHC network through 2023.
Full List of Allies
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Special thanks to the inaugural Allies Improving PHC
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AfroPHC
We feel that there is a serious risk of African UHC being seen as a financial solution without the required reform in service delivery and becoming directed towards specialist and hospital services focused on vocal city elites, rather than PC services and PHC approach that serves the often-silent masses, especially in rural communities. We want to advocate for appropriate PHC service delivery.
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African Parliamentary Forum on Population & Development
Parliaments are the central institution through which laws are created, and government is held accountable. The parliamentarian’s mandate is predicated on a commitment to engage and action on issues of concern and urgency for their constituents and for their nation. Parliamentarians recognize that UHC is essential for achieving all the 17 SDGs; and that Primary Health Care (PHC) is fundamental to the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions. Their intent and role in supporting PHC is articulated in the Sept. 2019 Political Declaration on UHC and in the Oct. 2019 UHC Declaration that was passed at the 141st Inter Parliamentary Union Assembly.
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Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights
For several years ARHR engaged in advocacy for reproductive, maternal newborn and adolescent health with less than desirable impact. Also, at the national level, investments and resources expended in health yielded less than optimum results. Ghana was off track in achieving the MDGs as well. These made us at ARHR question the outcomes of vertical and disease specific programming for better health outcomes as we realized that improvements in maternal health outcomes cannot be separated from a wholistic approach to health care delivery rooted in primary health care delivery. ARHR therefore, in partnership with PAI has for the past several years engaged in advocacy for strengthened primary health care systems, policy and financing as key to achieving UHC. As an Ally, ARHR will continue to engage in advocacy to strengthen PHC systems, advocate for a comprehensive PHC policy and increased investments in PHC. We will continue to track health budgets and expenditure tracking, use results as data for evidence based advocacy towards ensuring that PHC receives adequate and needed investments.
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Amref Health Africa
The community is a primary entry point for building healthy societies. Primary health care is the first level for provision of quality and affordable health services. Amref’s mission to increase sustainable health access to communities across Africa prioritizes universal health coverage, closing the gap in access to health and ensuring that no population is left behind. PHC is integrated into our organizational strategy and programming. In addition to our current efforts, as an Ally we will continue to promote PHC through our partner networks and engagement on the UHC-2030 Steering Committee.
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ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Mahidol University, Thailand
ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Mahidol University, Thailand is an academic institution that is devoted to developing, researching, and promoting primary health care and universal coverage. Joining the Allies will internationalize and regionalize our effort to bring PHC in region and promote Astana framework. Also it will attract ASEAN policy makers to accept PHC and UHC.
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Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance
Without strong PHC, Malaria Elimination (and ultimately Eradication) will not be possible. We will amplify this message in whatever we can that links malaria control and elimination to strengthening primary health care.
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Boston University Global Health Collaborative
At the Boston University Global Health Collaborative, primary health care is at the core of everything we do, so no need to add it - however, we continue to also work on elevating the importance of PHC within our parent institutions at Boston University and Boston Medical Center.
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Care 2 Communities
Becoming an Ally Improving PHC can support C2C's multi-component quality primary health care (PHC) service delivery model to improve access to quality primary health care services in Haiti. To achieve this, we need to make sure that quality primary care services are available. Many different elements need to come together to improve the availability of quality primary health care services. On the supply side, elements such as the improvement of governance policies and procedures, the management of human resources, the availability of the clinic infrastructure and materials, the improvement of patient care and finally the assurance that this is done in a financially sustainable way to guarantee availability over time. On the demand side, C2C must work to raise awareness of the importance of primary healthcare in households and communities, the services must remain affordable, patients need to be incentivized to visit the clinic and return for follow-up care and finally, patient referral mechanisms need to be adequate. These are the broad categories of the many different indicators we will attempt to improve and measure.
Beyond aiming to offer primary care services in accordance with internationally recognized definitions, C2C aims to offer high quality primary health care. Quality of care, according to the WHO, is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.
Beyond aiming to offer primary care services in accordance with internationally recognized definitions, C2C aims to offer high quality primary health care. Quality of care, according to the WHO, is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.
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Centre for Health Sciences Training, Research and Development
Both the Alma Ata of 1978 and the Astana Declaration of 2018 affirm the central role of evidence driven, inclusive approaches for national health systems building. This is the vision of the PHC approach. The achievements of all the aspirations of the UHC movement rests on this pivot.
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Community Health Impact Coalition
The Community Health Impact Coalition (“The Coalition”) exists to make professionalized community health workers (CHWs) a norm worldwide. With the right system design and implementation, CHW programs expand coverage of critical PHC interventions and contribute to UHC. Without investments in PHC, health systems will continue to disproportionately focus on secondary and tertiary care, leaving behind the most vulnerable. As an Ally, the Coalition will invest in research and advocacy to elevate the role of CHWs as critical PHC providers and drive the uptake of the high-impact community health systems design necessary for all patients to have access to quality care.
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Community Working Group on Health
The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) was born in early 1998, to lead and give visibility to community processes in health in Zimbabwe. Over the years, the CWGH has positioned itself as a voice in health sector and built community power, organizing involvement of communities in health actions within their communities and around Primary Health Care, whether within the community on health governance, health literacy, health budget or environmental health. These are being done through community level initiatives with limited external support.
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The Eastern Mediterranean NCD Alliance
Improving PHC is a corner stone to enhances NCD care. Advocacy effort could be enhanced working jointly with other global Allies, sharing experiences and knowledge.
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Egyptian NCD Alliance
The Egyptian NCD Alliance is collaborating with different partners in order to provide the beast practice for primary care services. We will build upon experiences and resources in place and will develop complementary parts.
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European Forum for Primary Care
Strong primary care (PC) produces better health outcomes against lower costs. That is the briefest summary of available scientific evidence. By promoting strong PC the population’s health can be improved. Strong PC does not emerge spontaneously. It requires appropriate conditions at the health care system level and in actual practice to make PC providers able and willing to take responsibility for the health of the population under their care. There is a strong need to collect and share information about what structures and strategies matter. The EFPC connects three groups: the health care field, health policy makers, and the producers and evaluators of health care information. By linking this policy, practice and research the EFPC intends to stimulate policy making based on vision and evidence as much as it intends to support PC practice oriented towards quality and equity.
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Evidence 4 Action- MamaYe (Options)
At Options, we believe in a world where women and children can access high-quality health services they need, without financial burden. Access to Primary Health Care is essential to achieving this. As an Ally, the Evidence for Action (E4A)-MamaYe project supports civil society groups, government and health practitioners to find evidence-based solutions that improve primary health care services. This way, more women have safe births.
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Friends of the Global Fight
UHC and primary health care are essential to the important goal of ending the AIDS, TB and malaria epidemics -- and to other pandemic responses -- as the focus of our organization. We seek to connect the vertical progress on epidemics (to propel to ending epidemics) with broader horizontal health care. In particular, we intend in the wake of COVID-19 and the 2020 election to advocate and present evidence-based research on the importance of health systems (as the subject of our primary advocacy and analysis, the Global Fund invests in), and work with networks of civil society advocates in donor and implementing countries to bridge epidemic response advocacy with UHC and PHC advocacy.
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The George Institute for Global Health
The George Institute’s mission is to improve the health of millions of people worldwide; particularly people experiencing inequality in both rich and poor countries alike and improving health care is one of our three strategic focus areas. We are honoured that our India office was chosen to be the Secretariat for the Primary Health Care Research Consortium, and we are working with consortium members to develop and maintain a global PHC research network. We are focused on country-driven, evidence-based, cost-effective interventions that drive change locally and globally, and advocate on behalf of millions of people who don’t have access to basic healthcare, with the ultimate goal of improving health and health care for all.
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Global Health Corps
GHC was founded on the belief that health is a human right. Realizing that right will require leaders who are dedicated to strengthening primary healthcare systems to provide quality, accessible, trusted care in their communities. As an Ally, we will leverage our digital reach and our rich network of 1000+ global health advocates to amplify PHC.
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Global Institute for Disease Elimination
Primary healthcare is the most equitable and sustainable strategy to ensure healthcare for all. Many of the world’s population still lack access to essential healthcare. Many people are still neglected and ancient diseases of poverty persist while they should be consigned to the history books. GLIDE's mission to eliminate preventable infectious diseases is made stronger by PHC as it helps bring essential care and services closer to the people that need it. It is key to ensuring health workers have the resources and training they need to provide quality care. We are proud to be an Ally Improving PHC.
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Global Network of People Living with HIV
GNP+ has been striving to ensure health for ALL people living with HIV, including many of us who are marginalised and even criminalised. We join the campaign for a strong primary health care that provides integrated and person-centred care in order to improve our quality of life.
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HENNET
With a focus on health promotion and disease prevention, the need to invest in good Primary Health Care (PHC) must also be emphasized. The programmatic engine for UHC is provided by PHC in most situations, if not all. By making better use of the resources they have and by increasing public spending on health care, all countries can achieve some level of universality in health care. PHC improves the efficacy of health budgets and saves lives. As an ally, HENNET will enhance these efforts by advocating and influencing policies to ensure that PHC is at the center of UHC.
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International Community of Women living with HIV Eastern Africa
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JHPIEGO
PHC and UHC both hold equity in access to quality health services at their core. We recognize that we are reaching the limits of what traditional models of health service delivery can achieve. Integrated models for new, decentralized health systems through PHC and addressing the burden of health expenditure on individuals, families and communities through UHC, are critical to achieving global health objectives. At Jhpiego, a global health nonprofit and Johns Hopkins University affiliate, we are enhancing these efforts through capturing learning, evidence, and testing potential accelerators in our PHC programming in multiple countries, and we commit to driving and supporting advocacy for this as an Ally.
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Living Goods
Primary health care that extends to the community level is critical to connect millions of communities to health care. Effective community-based PHC also help provide care for the critically and chronically ill and alleviate pressure on resource-constricted health facilities, and achieve UHC. As an Ally, we will use our voice on social media, at events, and through our relationships with decision makers in countries in sub-Saharan Africa to promote community-based PHC.
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NCD Alliance
85% of premature deaths from NCDs occur in LMIC. Reducing global NCD mortality and morbidity can only be achieved through effective control of NCDs risk factors, early detection, and increased access to management, rehabilitation and palliative care where necessary. This continuum of care approach is underpinned by comprehensive PHC packages, a core component of strong resilient health systems and a principle pathway to UHC. NCD Alliance recognises the NCD epidemic’s impact on health and economies as an opportunity to call for the implementation of PHC and UHC, and will continue to mainstream their role in the global NCD agenda.
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PAI
It is our mission to remove the barriers that stand between women and girls and their sexual and reproductive health and rights, because we understand that at its core, the right to health is about the right to self-determination. That is why the promise of universal health coverage (UHC) based on a primary health care approach is so powerful. Its mandate of health for all, that all people have the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need—without exposure to financial hardship— represents the highest political and financial commitment to the fulfillment of health as a human right.
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PATH
PATH is dedicated to advancing health equity, and we believe that truly achieving the goal of universal health coverage will require a reimagination and reinvigorating of primary health care, where most health services (preventive, diagnostic, curative, and health maintenance) are delivered. We have been—and as an Ally will continue—using our expertise in system innovation, product development, digital solutions, and policy advocacy to advance efforts that put communities at the center of health.
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Primary Care International
Integrated primary healthcare is the foundation of UHC. However, under-investment in primary care systems and workforce has resulted in fragile, fragmented systems, especially in resource-poor settings. PCI builds capacity in primary healthcare workers and systems to get quality healthcare to all. Our co-authored Op-Ed series: Primary Care Perspectives, with articles on our own and external platforms, is already promoting the need for strong PHC systems, especially in a time of COVID-19. As an Ally we would use our external channels to further amplify these efforts and see strength and solidarity in being part of a bigger movement to do this.
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Primary Health Care Research Consortium
Reinforcing and strengthening PHC research in LMICs is the tenet for the conception and establishment of the PHCRC. Albeit, the consortium is in a nascent stage, but with the start of the research mentioned above and forging partnerships, we hope to gain more traction. We aim to create a culture of mainstreaming PHC in all discussions surrounding well-being and health.
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SpeakUpAfrica
Primary health care is the cornerstone of universal health coverage. Being able to provide citizens with continuous and comprehensive care curbs the spread of many diseases, improves economic growth and of course results in better health outcomes for communities across Africa. As an organization, we will strive to advocate for the promotion of primary health care, ensuring that local authorities are aware of its importance and the incredible impact that PHC can have on both health and financial outcomes.
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United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation is a steadfast advocate for primary health care, recognizing the benefits to the physical, mental, economic, and social well-being of everyone, everywhere. The global crises triggered by COVID-19 heightens the urgent imperative for primary health care as a cornerstone for pandemic preparedness and response. In solidarity with our partners and governments the world over, the United Nations Foundation commemorates the second anniversary of the Declaration of Astana by pledging to redouble efforts to mobilize the public demand and political commitment needed to realize the promise of primary health care.
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VillageReach
VillageReach’s mission is to transform health care delivery to reach everyone. To accomplish this, the organization strives to increase pathways to primary health care and bring health products to people. We do this with an eye toward sustainability – through radical collaboration with government, private sector and community partners. VillageReach has active communications, media and social media efforts to amplify perspectives on issues from equitable access to PPE and vaccines, and centering government voices. As an Ally, we will support efforts to bring CHW needs to the forefront, and advocate for policy-makers to invest in and support change that enables PHC.
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WACI Health
We believe that Primary health care is the foundation of UHC because It emphasizes on the urgent need for community empowerment and social accountability. Integration of essential services is best implemented at the PHC level – which reduces pressure for tertiary institutions as a result of promotive, preventive and early detection of ill health. PHC is the most cost-effective way to address comprehensive health needs close to people’s homes and communities.
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White Ribbon Alliance
Primary health care is the foundation for health care. PHC doesn't silo the needs of individuals and families into disease and priority areas, but serves communities holistically. Primary health care is critical to addressing inequalities which stall progress on UHC goals.
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WONCA
WONCA’s raison d’etre is to promote and enhance family medicine globally. It strongly endorses and supports the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 3.8 (“Achieving Universal Health Coverage”) as it believes that only primary health care can deliver the quality essential health services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines without inducing poverty through out-of-pocket expenses. In effect, there can be no UHC without PHC. Working as an ally WONCA can add significant value to the improving PHC pledge.
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Rural Wonca
Primary Health care IS the mainstream of Rural Wonca's advocacy. To be effective, PHC must not only be the first point of contact but must be (as per WHO) comprehensive promotive, protective, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care throughout the life. We published in 2018 the Delhi Declaration, that clearly sets out our priorities on this in line with the Astana Declaration.
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WHOCC on Family Medicine and Primary Health Care-Ghent University Belgium
PHC is the mainstream and central focus of our WHOCC. We emphasize the need for capacity building with a focus on Africa through https://primafamed.sun.ac.za . Moreover we support governments to strengthen PHC systems worldwide.
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Population Services International
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Associação de Profissionais Licenciados de Optometria (APLO)
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African Research and Action Institute
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Open Letter: 239 organizations in 65 countries urge action on primary health care
After the Allies Improving PHC launched an Open Letter in September 2022 - one year out from multiple health-related High-Level Meetings and the SDG Summit - a total of 239 organizations and 157 individuals from 65 countries signed on to urge leaders to "make this time different" by prioritizing primary health care as a 3-for-1 investment in universal health coverage, health security and better health and well-being. PHC3for1.org -
PHC Advocacy Micro-Grant Program
In 2022, 13 organizations were selected to receive micro-grants to support their primary health care advocacy efforts. These groups came together in March 2023 to share impact, lessons learned, and calls to action from these projects. View a summary of project highlights here to learn more and explore opportunities for collaboration. -
Stories of Four Champions Fighting for Strong Primary Health Care
Advocate. Community Health Worker. Family Doctor. Policymaker. In early 2023, a group of primary health care champions in Kisumu, Kenya opened their doors to share how they are making their communities stronger with primary health care. This video series aims to share their stories and lessons with the world. -
PHC: the 3-for-1 investment in #HealthForAll
Ahead of the 75th World Health Assembly, the Allies Improving PHC are standing together to remind world leaders that primary health care is a 3-for-1 investment in the Triple Billion targets for universal health coverage, health security, and better health & well-being for all. -
Astana+2: #StrongerwithPHC
Our #StrongerwithPHC campaign strives to renew the world's commitment to PHC as the foundation of health systems that keep people healthy and safe.