The Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) and Primary Health Care (PHC) unit provides oversight of the WHO Regional Office for Africa’s work on the adoption of integrated people-centred health services, in line with the primary health care approach, for attaining universal health coverage (UHC), the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other country-level health targets.

The unit’s key areas of work are supporting Member States to develop, disseminate and implement global and regional guidance to improve access to quality essential health services in both everyday and emergency situations; creating an enabling environment for the documentation of lessons learnt and the sharing of experiences and best practices; and promoting internal WHO and external collaboration and partnerships to leverage expertise and other capacities for health service provision.

The delivery of essential health services is key to advancing UHC. Yet the Region’s UHC Service Coverage Index score of 44 in 2021 indicates that less than half of the population accessed the health services they needed, underscoring the significant work still required to build a PHC-based health system in the African Region.