Focus: Primary health care

Duration: March 2010 – December 2012

Geographical area: Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden 

Summary: Primary Health Care (PHC) is the level of care nearest to the community. It coordinates care with other community stakeholders and manages interfaces with other health services and thus also helps to control the costs of the public health systems. Hence PHC is an efficient tool for health promotion & disease prevention and contributes to increasing the attractiveness of regions. While the importance of PHC is without controversy, the equitable availability of high quality PHC personnel and resources is a big challenge for all BSR Countries. It tackles three core areas: access to PHC, financial resources for PHC, and professional development of PHC staff. The project produced new incentive payment scheme and operational system of evidence-based quality indicators, developed set of proven measures to recruit and retain doctors and other health professionals in less attractive areas. Furthermore the project prepared a strategy on professional development of PHC in the BSR, prepared recommendations for avoiding brain drain within and between countries, made available evidence-based PHC practices for counteracting communicable diseases. The project also prepared a model solution for incorporating PHC in regional development plans and recommendations conclusions on promoting equal distribution of PHC.