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Interventions in primary health care to improve outcome and equity in health

Edited by Leiyu Shi, Ana Lorena Ruano, and John Furler
International Journal for Equity in Health

Primary care is essential and refers to first-contact, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated care provided to populations undifferentiated by gender, disease, or organ system. It has been demonstrated that effective primary care is associated with improved access to health care services, reduced hospitalizations, cost effectiveness and enhanced equity. In recent years, many countries, organizations, communities, as well as world agencies have implemented primary care reforms and interventions to improve healthcare access, quality, health outcome and equity in health. Successful stories, as well as lessens learned, through these experiences could benefit the world community.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

View all collections published in International Journal for Equity in Health


  1. The allocation of health resources in primary health care institutions (PHCI) is crucial to health reform. China has recently implemented many reform measures emphasizing the provision of primary health care s...

    Authors: Shuping Wang, Jin Xu, Xiaofeng Jiang, Chaofan Li, Hongmin Li, Suhang Song, Erdan Huang and Qingyue Meng
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2018 17:178
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Access to healthcare services has an essential role in promoting health equity and quality of life. Knowing where the places are and how much of the population is covered by the existing healthcare network is ...

    Authors: António dos Anjos Luis and Pedro Cabral
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:173
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. In Manitoba, Canada, school-based clinics providing sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents have been implemented to address high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancies.

    Authors: Souradet Y. Shaw, Colleen Metge, Carole Taylor, Mariette Chartier, Catherine Charette, Lisa Lix, Rob Santos, Joykrishna Sarkar, Nathan C. Nickel, Elaine Burland, Dan Chateau, Alan Katz, Marni Brownell and Patricia J. Martens
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:95
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The potential menstrual hygiene management barriers faced by adolescent girls and women in workplace environments in low- and middle-income countries has been under addressed in research, programming and polic...

    Authors: Marni Sommer, Sahani Chandraratna, Sue Cavill, Therese Mahon and Penelope Phillips-Howard
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:86
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  5. Many evidences illustrate that the Pap smear screening successfully reduces if the cervical cancer could be detected and treated sufficiently early. People with disability were higher comorbidity prevalence, a...

    Authors: Wen-Hui Fang, Chia-Feng Yen, Jung Hu, Jin-Ding Lin and Ching-Hui Loh
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:65
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. The strategy of health policy has been changed for improving the performances to meeting the increasing healthcare demands. However, limited evidences were found to prove that the bundled payment was valid for...

    Authors: Jian Wu, Xiaofang Li, Yao Song, Hui Shao, Qian Shi, Doudou Qin, Shuangbao Xie and Lizheng Shi
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:46
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Influenza continues to have a major impact on vulnerable populations worldwide, particularly among the elderly (≥60 years of age). Vaccination for targeted groups is recommended by the WHO as the most effectiv...

    Authors: Tongtong Li, Min Lv, Trudy Lei, Jiang Wu, Xinghuo Pang, Ying Deng and Zheng Xie
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:45
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Over the last two decades, Moroccan authorities launched a number of actions and strategies to enhance access to health services and improve health outcomes for the whole population in general and for mother a...

    Authors: Wiam Boutayeb, Mohamed Lamlili, Abdellatif Maamri, Souad Ben El Mostafa and Abdesslam Boutayeb
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:19
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. Despite global scale up of interventions for Preventing Mother to child HIV Transmissions (PMTCT), there still remain high pediatric HIV infections, which result from unequal access in resource-constrained set...

    Authors: P. Dako-Gyeke, B. Dornoo, S. Ayisi Addo, M. Atuahene, N. A. Addo and A. E. Yawson
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:5
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. The primary health care (PHC) sector is increasingly relevant as a site for population health interventions, particularly in relation to marginalized groups, where the greatest gains in health status can be ac...

    Authors: Annette J. Browne, Colleen Varcoe, Marilyn Ford-Gilboe and C. Nadine Wathen
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:152
    Content type: Study protocol Published on:

  12. In 2003, the Quebec government made important changes in its primary healthcare (PHC) system. This reform included the creation of new models of PHC, Family Medicine Groups (e.g. multidisciplinary health teams...

    Authors: Marie-Jo Ouimet, Raynald Pineault, Alexandre Prud’homme, Sylvie Provost, Michel Fournier and Jean-Frédéric Levesque
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:139
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Throughout the world, indigenous peoples have advocated for the right to retain their cultural beliefs and traditional medicine practices. In 2007, the more than 370 million people representing 5000 distinct g...

    Authors: Heather Carrie, Tim K. Mackey and Sloane N. Laird
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:129
    Content type: Review Published on:

    The Erratum to this article has been published in International Journal for Equity in Health 2016 15:20

  14. Childhood vaccination rates in Manitoba populations with low socioeconomic status (SES) fall significantly below the provincial average. This study examined the impact of a pay-for-performance (P4P) program ca...

    Authors: Alan Katz, Jennifer Emily Enns, Dan Chateau, Lisa Lix, Doug Jutte, Jeanette Edwards, Marni Brownell, Colleen Metge, Nathan Nickel, Carole Taylor and Elaine Burland
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:114
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. There have been significant improvements in health outcomes in Tibet, health disparities between Tibet and the rest of China has been greatly reduced. This paper tests whether there was a positive association ...

    Authors: Wenhua Wang, Leiyu Shi, Aitian Yin, Zongfu Mao, Elizabeth Maitland, Stephen Nicholas and Xiaoyun Liu
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:107
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. This study examined the impact of an Integrated Care Delivery intervention on health care seeking and outcomes for chronically-ill patients in Henan province, China.

    Authors: Leiyu Shi, Marty Makinen, De-Chih Lee, Ruth Kidane, Nathan Blanchet, Hailun Liang, Jinghua Li, Magnus Lindelow, Hong Wang, Shuangbao Xie and Jian Wu
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:98
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Reform of the health care system in urban areas of China has prompted concerns about the utilization of Community Health Centers (CHC). This study examined which of the dominant primary care delivery models, i...

    Authors: Leiyu Shi, De-Chih Lee, Hailun Liang, Luwen Zhang, Marty Makinen, Nathan Blanchet, Ruth Kidane, Magnus Lindelow, Hong Wang and Shaolong Wu
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:90
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Numerous epidemiological studies have compared outcomes between laparoscopic appendectomies (LA) and open appendectomies (OA); however, few studies have assessed the efficacy of LA specifically in a low-income...

    Authors: Kai-Biao Lin, K. Robert Lai, Nan-Ping Yang, Ke-Shou Wu, Hsien-Wei Ting, Ren-Hao Pan and Chien-Lung Chan
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:100
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. Usual source of care (USC) refers to the provider or place a patient consults when sick or in need of medical advice. No studies have been conducted in China to compare the quality of primary care provided wit...

    Authors: Zhicheng Du, Yu Liao, Chien-Chou Chen, Yuantao Hao and Ruwei Hu
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2015 14:60
    Content type: Research Article Published on: