India's success in saving children's lives so far means that it hasn't just met but surpassed the UN's ambitious Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on child mortality. As the global community approaches the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, Bill Gates, founder and co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reflects on India's achievements and the need to make sure that primary health care systems reach every single person with high-quality services.

Health systems founded on strong primary health care are essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage. Authors on behalf of the World Organization of Family Doctors' (WONCA) executive committee discuss the need for global primary care development indicators to strengthen primary health care systems. They call on the UN and other stakeholders to commit to the measurement and development of high-quality and comprehensive primary care. 

Recent crises, including the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, have been wake-up calls: too many primary health care systems are under-resourced and fragmented, leaving countries unprepared to reach everyone with needed health services. Read more for a call to action from leadership of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank Group, and the World Health Organization on the need for better measurement to guide meaningful improvements in primary health care systems.

The global health agenda has often suffered from fragmentation, taking a siloed approach to particular diseases and interventions. During the Ebola crisis, we saw that underfunded, fragmented and understaffed health systems can be quickly overwhelmed, allowing an outbreak to escalate into an epidemic. Jasmine Whitbread, CEO of Save the Children International, shares insight into building strong health systems so that all can have access to high-quality health care.

Since the 1990s, Ghana has taken siginificant steps to improve primary health care, including launching the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) program and ensuring financial access through the National Health Insurance Scheme. President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana joins fellow heads of state in signing the global framework for sustainable development and urges increased attention to strengthening health systems and enhancing the ability to respond to global health threats.

On September 26, 2015 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank Group, and the World Health Organization launched a collaboration to strengthen primary health care and advance progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

With the launch of the new Sustainable Development Goals, health and development experts around the world are reflecting on what it will take to accomplish them. As a global community, this is a unique opportunity to think carefully about what works and what doesn’t, and to use the new goals to redouble our efforts to support programmes, solutions, and systems that work. Suzanne Ehlers, President and CEO of Population Action International, and Rosemary Mburu, Executive Director of World AIDS Campaign International, weigh in on the value of high-performing primary health care systems and call on country decision-makers to enact policies and budgets that lead to measureable improvements in primary health care.

Last month, world leaders came together to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)--a new global development agenda that sets ambitious targets, such as eliminate poverty, achieve gender equality and end hunger globally. Following the launch of the SDGs, World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) President Michael Kidd weighs in on the potential of primary health care systems to support the achievement of the health-related SDG and deliver quality health care to populations worldwide. He also proposes new indicators that, if comprehensively measured, can show us the strength of primary health care in countries around the world and help us understand how to further improve our systems.

For the hundreds of thousands of women and newborns who die during pregnancy or delivery each year across Africa, the underlying cause of death is a fundamental lack of access to basic health care. In this op-ed originally published in AllAfrica, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, highlights how primary health care and better data can help improve access to quality health care for women and their newborns.

When supported by strong public health policies and with aligned efforts across social, economic, and political domains, primary health care has a central role in achievement of sustainable development. Originally published in The Lancet, this commentary explores the integral role that strong primary health care systems will play in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.

Commemerating the recent second annual UHC day, read on to understand how the UHC movement evolved from a nascent movement to a global force over the course of a few short years and learn why high-quality PHC is one of the best bets for achieving UHC goals.

Countries around the globe have committed to implementing reforms to achieve universal health coverage. Now what? Read on for a snapshot of what the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI) has planned in 2016 to support the global movement toward UHC through better primary health care.

Read on to learn how the president of the World Organization of Family Doctors, Michael Kidd, thinks primary health care is key to meeting global goals for Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Health Data Collaborative, launched by WHO and partner development agencies, countries, donors and academics, will strengthen countries' capacity to collect, analyse and use reliable health data, thereby reducing administrative burden. A list of 100 core health indicators has been produced, and 60 low income and lower-middle income countries, and their supporting donors, will be using common investment plans to strengthen their health information systems by 2024.

Why is it important for countries to track and understand primary health care spending? Read on as Federica Secci, Health Specialist at the World Bank Group, discusses how accurate primary health care spending data is critical to improving systems and meeting Universal Health Coverage goals. 

Strengthening primary health care (PHC) is essential to achieve universal health coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, and PHC system strengthening requires good measurement. The PHC Measurement for Improvement Collaborative, launched in April 2016 in Accra, Ghana by the Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage and the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative, will co-develop practical tools and approaches – drawing on collective country experiences—to support country policymakers, health system managers, and frontline providers to effectively use data for PHC improvement.

How can strong supply chains strengthen primary health care systems? Read on for an exclusive PHCPI exploration of why essential drug availability is an essential component of effective primary care systems. 

PHCPI was honored to participate in the momentous conversations at Women Deliver last week. Read on to see how PHC was featured during Women Deliver 2016.

Ariana Childs Graham, Director of the Primary Healthcare Initiative at PAI, shares her thoughts on primary health care (PHC) as the foundation of all health systems and the role of the Primary Health Care Global Strategy Group (PHCGSG) in increasing recognition and support for PHC in the global development arena and advocating for PHC as a foundational pillar of universal health coverage.

Primary health care is one of the most cost-effective ways to equitably reduce morbidity and mortality and improve population health, but the realization of these potential benefits is dependent on having adequate numbers of competent, motivated human resources to deliver primary health care services. Read on for more information on the central role of health workers in achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and opportunities to strengthen the health workforce.

Despite progress made in the last two decades, maternal and child mortality rates remain unacceptably high around the globe. Read on to learn more about the role of strong primary health care systems in ending preventable maternal and child deaths and how more and better data can help the global community to ensure healthier lives for all women and children, everywhere.

Executive Director Beth Tritter sits down with UHC2030 to discuss PHCPI's motivation for joining, and the value of the UHC2030 agenda.