The Action Plan is the sub-product of the WHO guidance, National workforce capacity to implement the essential public health functions including a focus on emergency preparedness and response: roadmap for aligning WHO and partner contributions, The action plan will serve as a workplan for WHO and partners. This publication outlines the activities and deliverables in the first two years of the Roadmap. The Action Plan provides additional information to inform the collaboration and alignment of WHO and partners’ activities.

This document is the first in a series of four technical tools in three interconnected action areas, which aim to guide the implementation in countries for strengthening the national public health workforce to deliver essential public health functions. This handbook provides an overview; the other tools in the series focus on: defining the essential public health functions and services (action area 1); competency-based education (action area 2); and mapping and measurement of occupations (action area 3).

The purpose of this document is to support countries in contextualizing and implementing action area 1 of the roadmap and action plan to strengthen the public health workforce, which includes the emergency workforce. Action area 1 focuses on operationalizing the essential public health functions (EPHFs). Countries can use this document to identify their priorities relating to the EPHFs, subfunctions and public health services in the post-COVID-19 era and to understand and strengthen public health capacities and stewardship. A strategic review of the EPHFs can inform broader public health strengthening or reform. This document also includes an annex summarizing the findings of a survey on mapping EPHF-related health workforce strengthening activities within WHO and by key partners, which informed the work. This document summarizes the technical details and approaches presented in the publication Application of the essential public health functions: an integrated and comprehensive approach to public health, which was co-developed by WHO’s Health System Resilience and Essential Public Health Functions Team, Special Programme on Primary Health Care, and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes.

Experience with public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrates that weak public health capacities leave populations and health, economic, and social systems vulnerable. Health system challenges are increasing in number and complexity, while health system resourcing, often seen as a cost rather than an investment, remains inadequate. The limited resources available are skewed towards clinical services and emergency response, leaving persistent weaknesses in preventive, promotive and protective capacities. World Health Assembly resolution WHA69.1 of 2016 provided the World Health Organization (WHO) with a mandate to support Member States to strengthen the essential public health functions (EPHFs) while recognizing their critical role in achieving universal health coverage. This has been reaffirmed in the Declaration of Astana on Primary Health Care, 2018, and by global partners since, creating an impetus towards and need for guidance in strengthening public health stewardship and capacities informed by the EPHFs. This technical package provides a range of technical resources and flexible tools in relation to EPHFs, to support comprehensive operationalization of public health in countries. The unified list of essential public health functions (EPHFs) consists of 12 activities that can be used to operationalize public health in a country. This comprehensive approach to public health orients health systems to population need and health system risks, and governments and societies towards health and well-being. This maximizes health gains within available resources and builds resilience, while reducing population vulnerability and the overall burden on the health system. The EPHFs can be used to plan public health systems, strengthen stewardship and coordination for public health delivery at national and subnational levels, and integrate public health capacities within health and allied sectors. The EPHFs anchor protective, promotive and preventive capacities within health systems while leveraging multisectoral efforts for health. In this way, strengthening health systems with the EPHFs is central to the primary health care approach and supports the achievement of universal health coverage, health security and healthier populations in tandem.

The WHO Benchmarks for International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Capacities was first published in 2019 and serves as a capacity-building tool and reference document to guide development/updating of country health security plans, including the national action plan for health security (NAPHS). It is now updated to a second edition which incorporates lessons learned from recent health emergencies, as well as alignment with updated IHRMEF tools, the HEPR framework, the WHO Director-General’s ten proposals to build a safer world together, and to build back better through multi-hazard and whole-of-society approaches to support better preparedness for future emergencies. Over 250 relevant technical leads contributed to this edition, by providing inputs from WHO regional offices, countries, partners and participation in global consultation meetings. The second edition is titled “WHO Benchmarks for Strengthening Health Emergency Capacities: Support for the Implementation of International Health Regulations (IHR) and Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Resilience (HEPR) Capacities”. WHO benchmarks are further digitalized for easy and quick use, along with a reference library, which is currently being updated. The audience for this document includes WHO Member States, health ministries and other relevant ministries, healthstakeholders, partners, nongovernmental organizations and academia to support building capacities at the country level.

This Primer is about the 'how' of primary health care (PHC) and brings together best practices and knowledge that countries have generated through 'natural experiments' in strengthening PHC with the best available research evidence. Despite the progress made towards PHC globally, the concept is still often misunderstood, even within the public health community. The Primer offers a contemporary understanding of PHC and more conceptual clarity for strengthening PHC-oriented health systems. It does so by consolidating both scientific evidence and an extensive sample of practical experiences across countries for the needed evidence to address practical implementation issues. The Primer is organized in three parts. Part I explains the PHC approach, its history, core concepts and rationale, and draws out lessons for transformation. Part II addresses operational and strategic levers that make PHC work. It covers governance, financing and human resources for health, medicines, health technology, infrastructure and digital health, and their role in implementing change. Part III concludes with a cross-cutting view of the impacts of PHC on the health system, efficiency, quality of care, equity, access, financial protection and health systems resilience, including in the face of climate change.