+ The Effects of Global Primary Care By Kelsey Starck

+ Global Primary Care “The strength of the primary care component of health systems is positively related to most common indicators of population health status, including birth outcomes, potential years of life lost, age-adjusted death rates, and age-specific mortality rates” (3). Worldwide, thousands of people die daily from very preventable and treatable diseases (2).

+ Global Primary Care Cont. Why is Primary Care so important? Globally there is not enough primary care available. This is important because the benefits of primary care are; Better health levels per country overall Lower hospitalization rates Lower healthcare expenditures Lower death rates Avoidance of unnecessary specialty visits Can manage chronic conditions better over time Role in changing opposing health effects of income inequality (5).

+ Global Primary Care & Health Care Costs A higher incidence of primary care utilization is proven to reduce overall healthcare costs because serious issues are prevented and stopped before higher costing intervention including inpatient stay, specialists and costly procedures are necessary. “Countries whose health systems are oriented more toward primary care achieve better health levels, higher satisfaction with health services among the populations, and lower expenditures in the overall delivery of healthcare” (5).

+ Global Primary Care & Health Care Costs Furthermore, primary care providers provide crucial education to patients that may help reduce the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and CVD. Education on proper nutrition and exercise is not always known worldwide and this knowledge would dramatically decrease these diseases. In developing countries, if primary care were available, many patients would be able to receive immunizations that would prevent many fatal diseases later on. One immunization costs significantly less than future hospital stays, specialists care and palliative care.

+ Developed Countries vs. Undeveloped Countries In undeveloped countries, there is less primary care available. The outcome of the lack of necessary healthcare results in very preventable deaths (1). As show in the figure above, in developed regions 77% of deaths result from non- communicable diseases like CVD, COPD and traffic accidents. In undeveloped regions 55% of the deaths results from communicable diseases like HIV, malaria, and measles (1).

+ Comparison of worldwide deaths Countries lacking primary care result in unnecessary deaths (6).

+ Is there a solution to this worldwide problem? According to the World Health Organization, there are five issues that need to be addressed in order to increase primary health globally; Reducing exclusion and social disparities in health via universal coverage reforms Organizing health services around people’s needs and expectations Integrating health into all sectors Pursuing collaborative models of policy dialogue via leadership reforms Increasing stakeholder participation (4). The integration of worldwide healthcare is not a simple task, but through worldwide reforms, targeting whole cultures expectations and by providing funding there is a solution to the thousands of unnecessary daily deaths worldwide. This will ultimately increase the overall health and productivity worldwide.

+ References 1.Cause of death. Retrieved from Atlas of Global Inequality website: MD, A. E. (n.d.). Program in Global Primary Care and Social Change. Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Retrieved June 21, 2014, from MD, J. B. (n.d.). Global Health and Primary Care Research.. Retrieved June 21, 2014, from center/Publications_PDFs/A226.pdf center/Publications_PDFs/A226.pdf 4. Primary health care. (n.d.). WHO. Retrieved June 21, 2014, from Shi, Leiyu & Singh, Douglas A. (2012). Delivering health care in America: A systems approach. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. 6. The top 10 causes of death. (n.d.). WHO. Retrieved June 21, 2014, fromhttp://