Primary healthcare system in India: Evolution and challenges

Primary healthcare is a vital strategy which remains the backbone of health service delivery. Primary healthcare is the day-to-day care needed to protect, maintain, or restore our health. For most people, it is both their first point of contact with the healthcare system and their most frequently used health service. In India concept of primary healthcare was laid down by the recommendations of Bhore Committee (1946). In last 6 decades of independence, we have seen much improvement in primary healthcare services, infrastructure, and related healthcare indices of the country. Still many challenges are ahead to achieve health for all. There is a need to review primary healthcare in the country to know our strengths and weaknesses to face the challenges in the future. This review article discusses the evolution of primary healthcare system in India over period of time. It also focuses on the challenge for primary healthcare system in current scenario and in future. A search strategy involved a detailed literature review on the subject of primary healthcare system in India. Indexed and non-indexed journals, websites of important organizations, and national programs in the field were identified and searched for key words. The most relevant publications were reviewed in detail and included in the present review.