The Ministry of Health in partnership with the World Health organization office in Vanuatu are working on revitalizing the Primary Health Care program in Vanuatu.
It is to strengthen the health services to be access close to the remote areas of Vanuatu.
Three-day meeting was held in Sanma Province recently with the eleven local government council areas involving local area secretaries and administrators and other Health workers to re-address the need of establishing primary health care in their communities as they are the key people to implement and monitor Health programs in their communities.
The Ministry of Health presented the primary focus of primary health care and how it can be implemented with the support and ownership of the community people.
Priority plans were put forward by each area administrator and area secretaries and it will be supported through a pilot project with the support of Ministry of Health developing partners. The plans will be reviewed on quarterly bases and the final review will be done after one year.
Primary Health Care is the first level of contact of individual, the family and community with the national health system bringing health case as close as possible to where people live and work and constitute the first element of a continuing health care process.
The success to the Primary Health Care over the past few years were access to community services such as, community health facilities, deployment of health workers, mobilized communities, community development project and setting up of village health committees.
Also re-shaped the health services to respond to people’s need such as water and sanitation, immunization, mother and child health and family planning, food and nutrition program, promoting health activities, Malaria prevention measure, non-communicable disease and Neglected tropical disease (NTD)
Primary Health Care provides an access to health services for the most disadvantage population and focus on the interventions which will directly impact on the major causes of mortality, mobility and disability for those populations