Actualizing the Declaration of Astana: Leveraging partnerships to create an ecosystem to achieve UHC with PHC

Dubai, UAE
October 16-17, 2019


Background

Achieving high quality Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030 will require rapid, widespread adoption of new models of primary care delivery which will offer a whole-of-society approach to health and well-being centered on the needs and preferences of individuals, families and communities.

In the last year, there has been growing worldwide momentum towards the importance of primary health care in achieving UHC and the health related SDGs. At the Global Conference on Primary Health Care, co-hosted by the Government of Kazakhstan, WHO and UNICEF, the Declaration of Astana outlined a bold vision for PHC in the 21st century: one that empowers people and communities, addresses the broader determinants of health through multi-sectoral policy and action, and provides primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services. This was followed by further commitments at the 72nd World Health Assembly. Member States passed resolution WHA 72.2 on Primary Health Care, which included a call for all relevant stakeholders to ‘align their actions and support to national policies, strategies and plans in the spirit of partnership and effective development cooperation in implementing the vision and commitments of the Declaration of Astana’.

The scope and scale of these efforts will require significant dialogue and coordination among all stakeholders, including public, private, academic, and development sectors, in partnership with communities and patients. Harvard Medical School recognizes its unique role as a convener of diverse stakeholder groups to facilitate and drive forth productive and transparent dialogue and engagement. In June 2018, Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care, along with convening partners Results for Development and the World Economic Forum hosted a high-level dialogue, Primary Care 2030 (PC 2030), in Dubai to discuss the role of disruptive care models and novel public-private collaborations in achieving UHC.

At the country-level, PC 2030 laid the groundwork for the Primary Healthcare Partnership Dialogue in Hanoi, Vietnam on May 16, 2019, which launched the public-private partnership Working Group for Primary Healthcare Transformation, led by the Vietnam Ministry of Health.

As governments, international organizations and the private sector continue to invest in research, new initiatives and investment to achieve high quality UHC by 2030, the PC 2030 community can play an essential role in advancing the dialogue, continuing to develop and refine the focus on creating enabling ecosystems for public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagement to actualize the Declaration of Astana and achieve health for all.

Harvard Medical School, World Economic Forum and the World Bank convened the second annual PC 2030 Dialogue in Dubai October 16-17, 2019. This dialogue followed the Astana 2018 Primary Health Care Conference, the 72nd World Health Assembly, and the upcoming UN HighLevel Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (23 September 2019, New York, USA).

Objectives

  1. Review and share existing tools, guidelines, operational frameworks and implementation efforts post-Declaration of Astana, including the WHO Primary Health Care Operational Framework, and discuss opportunities and challenges towards actualization.

  2. Review research on primary care delivery models and systems, and analyze case examples of high-functioning primary care delivery from various national and subnational contexts, including common themes (e.g. team-based care, data-driven ) to actualize the Declaration of Astana.

  3. Discuss with patient group representatives the importance of partnering with patients and families, and its integration into in the development and delivery of new models of care.

  4. Discuss standards and mechanisms for measuring and evaluating PHC systems and innovations, including innovations in measurement and evaluation tools and data-driven decision making from a variety of stakeholders.

  5. Outline, articulate and align guidelines to establish enabling ecosystems that create meaningful multi-stakeholder partnerships to catalyze innovation and adoption at scale of innovative PHC service delivery models, products and technologies.

  6. Identify opportunities for multi-stakeholder partnerships towards the goal of improving primary care delivery models, aligning with quality and accountability, to actualize the Declaration of Astana.

Outcomes/Deliverables 
  1. Conference proceedings, including key findings and documentation of tools presented

  2. Identify key principles that can build a consensus statement around multi-stakeholder collaboration, engagement and investment in PHC to actualize the Declaration of Astana

  3. Obtain initial commitments toward investments for PHC innovations in select countries

  4. Primary Care 2030 community of practice, with ongoing networking, sharing and collaborative problem solving 

Harvard Medical School Speakers