Health emergencies are increasing in frequency and complexity, often striking communities already burdened by fragile health systems and protracted crises. Primary health care (PHC) systems are the first point of contact for most people, making them the frontline of emergency preparedness, detection and response. Yet despite growing global attention to preparedness, PHC and emergency systems remain poorly integrated, limiting countries’ ability to translate investments into effective action when crises hit.
The Emergency-Ready Primary Health Care (ERPHC) Framework and Operational Guide, developed by Resolve to Save Lives in partnership with the World Health Organization, addresses this gap directly. It offers a practical approach to embedding preparedness, response and resilience within routine PHC systems. The ERPHC Framework integrates surveillance, infection prevention and control, clinical care and community protection into a coherent, all-hazards model, moving away from fragmented, disease-specific approaches.
The ERPHC Framework builds on earlier work by Resolve to Save Lives. Our journey began with lessons from COVID-19 and a clear problem to solve: low clinical suspicion at the frontline, which was identified as the biggest bottleneck to achieving the 7-1-7 target. We developed and tested an epidemic-ready PHC approach in countries, and have since evolved this into a globally validated, all-hazards ERPHC framework—ready for scale.
Aligned with WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work and the broader global health security and universal health coverage agendas, the ERPHC Framework supports countries in strengthening frontline preparedness, community engagement and continuity of essential services during crises. This guide is an essential resource for health system practitioners, policymakers and partners working to build more resilient health systems worldwide.
We call on governments, partners and communities to use this framework and operational guide to accelerate progress towards PHC systems that are ready to protect people before, during and after emergencies. Strengthening emergency ready PHC is essential to achieving health security, universal health coverage and resilient health systems.
