Why primary healthcare is important?

The deadly pandemic spell has highlighted the role of multispecialty hospitals that are equipped to handle all types of emergencies.

For that matter, Covid-19 has been a complicated disease with patients requiring ventilation support and advanced care to survive.

According to health experts, one of the reasons for the high rate of fatalities is that patients reach hospitals at a critical stage, which small clinics cannot handle, and then saving them becomes a tough task.

For this very reason, the role of primary healthcare comes to the fore as they can trace, isolate and limit the spread of viruses.

Speaking to the Observer, a health expert, who was earlier associated both with private and public hospitals in the country and the region, said, “The initial spread of the Covid-19 worldwide was due to travel and borders were closed only after a couple of months. Later, it was a community spread that could have been handled with the help of primary healthcare workers and as symptoms were mild and only isolation and minimum medication were required.”

He added, “Oman has a good network of primary healthcare workers in the public sector, but in the private sector, there has been a decline of family doctors, which meant all patients are now approaching hospitals. While hospitals are well-equipped, it is important the pandemics as these are handled at the community level as hospitals themselves can be a reason for getting infected.”

Rajshekharan, an old-time expatriate in Oman and a private sector employee, said “People never visited private hospitals for viral infections, cough, fever, and small body pains in the eighties and nineties. Hospitals are important for advanced treatment, but I feel it is time for the return of small-time but licenced family doctors who can give personal advice to patients anytime, anywhere.”

According to WHO, primary healthcare is the first contact a person has with health experts and services are provided by professionals who have personal attachment with their patients and their community.

“In the early days before speciality hospitals, the neighbourhood general practitioner (GP) or family doctor used to be the first person of contact for all health issues, major and minor ones.” According to WHO, primary healthcare plays a key role in diagnosing and treating a health condition and long-term healthcare, including chronic conditions like diabetes.

As part of its Global Strategy on Human Resources, WHO is engaged in transforming the health workforce to make it more people-centred and community-oriented.

The objective is that by 2030, all countries will have done this and that their population will be reaping the benefits of effective and resilient primary healthcare services.