Title: 
Leapfrogging for Equity: Strengthening Primary Health Care with Data, Teams, and Trust

Abstract: 
Delivering on the promise of equity through primary health care is more possible than ever—by harnessing the potential of digital solutions while reinforcing the traditional strengths of PHC. This presentation explores three critical enablers of accelerating equity gains through primary health care practice. First, population health management provides the data and analytical tools to identify clinical and social vulnerability at scale, enabling proactive outreach, stronger prevention and more precise targeting of interventions.  Second, multidisciplinary teams create the operational capacity to respond not only to individual needs but also to the structural determinants of health. Third—and most fundamentally—equitable care hinges on relational continuity: enduring, trust-based relationships between patients and primary care providers, particularly family doctors and nurses.

In the digital age, we have unprecedented opportunities to accelerate equity gains—through better data, digital outreach, and tailored service delivery. These tools can help identify and reach those systematically left behind. But they must be deployed with care. The foundation of equitable primary care remains human connection and trust, which are increasingly at risk from system fragmentation, underinvestment, transitionary employment, and evolving societal values. Drawing on experiences from Spain, Kazakhstan and other European countries, this talk explores how countries can leverage digital innovation while safeguarding the relational core of primary care.

Biography:
Jakab, Melitta (M.Sc, Ph.D.) is Head Of Office of the WHO European Center For Primary Health Care located in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She has twenty years of experience in health system strengthening supporting countries to move towards Universal Health Coverage through stronger primary health care and better health financing policies. She has been co-director of the Barcelona Courses on Health Systems Strengthening and Health Financing. She is co-editor of three major publications - Implementing the Primary Health Care Approach: A Primer, Health Systems Respond to NCDs: Time for Ambition. Implementing Health Financing Reform: Lessons from Countries in Transition. She has a PhD from Harvard University and M.Sc. in Health Policy for the Harvard School of Public Health.

Title: 
Revitalizing Primary Health Care an Essential Tool to Address Social Determinants of Health

Abstract: 
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated deep-rooted health inequities globally, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen health systems and address the social determinants of health (SDH). In this post-COVID-19 era, revitalizing primary health care (PHC)—as envisioned in the 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration—has re-emerged as a critical strategy for building resilient, equitable health systems. The Alma-Ata Declaration emphasized PHC as the foundation for healthcare universality and comprehensiveness, community participation, intersectoral collaboration, and health equity. Today, these principles are more relevant than ever. Revitalized PHC systems can serve as effective platforms for addressing SDH by linking health services with education, housing, employment, and environmental initiatives. They ensure early access to care, continuity of services, and stronger community engagement, all of which are essential for reducing health disparities. Furthermore, PHC plays a key role in pandemic preparedness and response by supporting surveillance, vaccination, and risk communication at the community level. In the aftermath of COVID-19, investments in PHC must go beyond infrastructure to include workforce development, policy integration, and governance reforms. Reaffirming the Alma-Ata vision in contemporary health strategies offers a transformative path toward achieving health equity, social justice, and sustainable development in an increasingly interconnected and vulnerable world.

Biography: 
Hani Serag, MD, MPH, is a physician and public health researcher currently serving as director of the Division of Global Partnership and assistant professor at the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities, School of Public and Population Health, UTMB. He also holds adjunct assistant professorships in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the John Sealy School of Medicine. Dr. Serag focuses on integrating preventive strategies for chronic diseases into clinical care and leads federally and state-funded programs on prevention and self-management of chronic conditions, and HIV routine screening. His academic and practice interests include health policy, governance, equity, and rights-based community empowerment. He has extensive global experience across diverse cultural settings. Prior to UTMB, he was global coordinator of the People's Health Movement and currently co-chairs its Global Steering Council. From 2005–2008, he led civil society engagement with the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health.

Title: 
Measuring Bottom Up Preparedness in Comprehensive Primary Health Care

Abstract:
Objective: Bottom up preparedness in comprehensive primary health care (CPHC) helps with resilience against pandemics and the everyday resilience required to address the crises occurring every day in local public health.  This presentation describes tools to measure facility level and district level preparedness and resilience through qualitative checklists and quantitative metrics on workforce staffing.

Methods: A facility based checklist for preparedness was developed after a systematic review and a consultative workshop for stakeholders in Bangladesh. In addition, a workforce resilience indicator was developed by benchmarking best, median and worst quartiles of human resources for health (HRH) staffing across critical cadres needed to respond to public health crises.

Results:The checklist tool for Bangladesh has 0 thematic categories identified including core health system capabilities/capacities, infrastructure/transportation, financing,barriers to care, communication/collaboration/partnerships, leadership/command, surge capacity, risk communication, workforce and infection control.  The quantitative staffing indicator identified critical shortages of civil surgeons in Bangladesh Upazillas and geographical inequalities in CPHC workforce adequacy that policies must address.

Conclusion: Measurements of CPHC resilience are available. Using them routinely before a pandemic can create resilience for benefits in the immediate term and in the event of a pandemic. 

Biography: 
Professor David Bishai is Clinical Professor in Public Health and Director of the School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining HKU, Professor Bishai had served as Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for 27 years and served in the Maryland Department of Health as a local health officer in 2021.

A leading health economist, his research focuses on the performance and financing of global public health activities, primary healthcare, vaccines, and health disparities. He is the author of three books and more than 270 peer-reviewed scientific publications.  His award-winning courses on systems thinking and health economics have reached over 60,000 students.  He is a Past President of the International Health Economics Association and the 2021 winner of the Sharmanov Prize in Primary Health Care.

Professor Bishai maintains certification by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard in Philosophy and Physics, his Masters in Public Health from the University of California at Los Angeles, his Medical Doctorate from the University of California at San Diego, and his Doctor of Philosophy from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Title: 
Balancing Rapid Introduction of Complex Interventions with Incremental Change: Lessons from India’s PHC Reforms.

Abstract: 
In 2018, India initiated a set of PHC reforms building on a country wide health systems strengthening effort, the National Health Mission (NHM), initiated 13 years earlier. PHC reforms introduced a range of innovations into the PHC and community health system. These included: adding a new cadre of worker, expanded the list of medicines and PoC diagnostics available at PHC levels, enabled decentralized financing, and introduced the use of digital technology for teleconsultation, payment of performance-based incentives, reporting, and indenting for supplies. The PHC reforms, aimed to move from delivery of selective to comprehensive PHC, were articulated in the form of twelve service packages, including non-communicable diseases, palliative and elderly care. The reforms were designed and financed at the federal level and expected to be implemented in 35 states spanning over 800 districts. Two years after the initiation of reforms, the COVID pandemic led to the acceleration of the pace of some reforms but delays in others. This presentation draws upon experiences from several states and examines how rapid introduction of policy reforms while enhancing public visibility also requires commensurate changes in service delivery reorganization, enabling improved team-based functioning to improve care coordination and continuum, and building capacity of district and PHC teams.

Biography: 
Dr. Rajani R. Ved is currently Director, Health in the India Country Office of the Gates Foundation, which she joined in 2022. Between 2010 to 2022, she worked with the National Health Systems Resource Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, first as Advisor and then Executive Director, leading the establishment and institutionalization of India’s Community Health Worker (ASHA) programme, and design and early implementation support for India’s flagship primary health care reform initiative, Ayushman Bharat- Health and Wellness Centres. She has worked for over thirty years with grassroots NGOs, governments, donors and private foundations in programme implementation, policy development, implementation research and the design and evaluation of large-scale health programmes for women and children’s health, nutrition, and health systems. She has a medical degree from Madras University and a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University.

Title: 
Implementing An Essential Package of Health Services in A Rural District of Pakistan: Challenges, Opportunities, and What Could Success Look Like

Abstract: 
An evidence-informed district level essential package of health services (EPHS) has been developed and costed at the national level and adapted by all provinces of Pakistan since 2021. The EPHSs range between 88–100 interventions across four clusters (MNCH, NCDs, CDC, and health system) and offered at three platforms (community, primary care, first level hospital). The package has yet to be implemented across the country.

Working with the Department of Health, Sindh province, the Aga Khan University has embarked on implementing the EPHS in district Tando Allah Yar (TAY) since August 2024. The key outcomes of the project are to - optimize the public sector healthcare system for delivering EPHS; strengthen governance arrangements to support EPHS Implementation; and augment capacity in public financial management. By the end, the project is expected to have implemented > 90% of EPHS Interventions; increase UHC Service Coverage Index by 50% from baseline; and develop a roadmap and tools for provincial scaleup. 

There is limited prior experience of implementing EPHS in Pakistan. The presentation discusses the experience during the first year of implementation, challenges and opportunities of implementing EPHS across the three platforms and strengthening aspects of the health system in a rural resource constrained setting. 
 
Biography: 
Dr Sameen Siddiqi is the Professor of Public Health and Health Systems at Aga Khan University, Karachi, where he served as the Chair for 6 years. Earlier, he worked for the WHO for 16 years and served as Director, Health System in EMRO spearheading the work on UHC. He also served as WHO’s Representative to Lebanon and Iran. Earlier, Dr Siddiqi was associated with the Health Services Academy in Pakistan where he was instrumental in developing its educational and research programs. Dr Siddiqi also worked as Senior Health Specialist for the World Bank.

Dr Siddiqi has a fellowship in internal medicine, and a master’s degree, fellowship and doctoral degree in public health. He has worked for three decades advising L&MICs on strengthening health systems, and has special interest in health system governance, private health sector, and public private partnership and health care provision in resource constrained settings.

Dr Siddiqi has over 150 publications and book chapters and is the lead editor of the book on Making Health Systems Work in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. He has recently joined the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Health Policy and Management. Till recently, he was on the Quality Committee of WHO’s Global Academy.

Title: 
An Introduction to Lancet Commissions

Abstract: 
In this talk, I will explain what is a Lancet commission, and what makes a great Lancet commission and how.

Biography: 
Helena Wang is the Asia Senior Executive Editor of The Lancet. She has led several editorial projects at The Lancet, such as Women and Health In Focus, the Mental Health Spotlight for The Lancet 200, and The Lancet–Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Medical Conferences. She also served as a Council Member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) from 2016 to 2019. Helena holds an MD degree as well as an MSc in Pathology and Pathophysiology from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.

Title: 
The Health Policy Landscape of Singapore: Current Initiatives and Research Opportunities

Abstract: 
In recent years, Singapore has introduced transformative health-policy reforms that offer valuable insights for Hong Kong policymakers and practitioners. At the forefront is Healthier SG, launched in July 2023, which reorients the system from reactive hospital-based care to proactive, community-centred prevention. Over 700,000 residents have enrolled with primary care providers, enabling personalised health plans, screenings, immunisations, and social prescriptions, underpinned by capitation-based financing to strengthen continuity. Grow Well SG, launched in January 2025, complements this by embedding health promotion and equity across life stages, with integrated efforts from educators, social services, and health professionals. These policies are underpinned by significant digital infrastructure investments, including Synapxe and its interoperable data platforms), and the expansion of AI-enabled home care. Start-ups like Speedoc illustrate how AI supports triage, care coordination, and early risk prediction, while preserving the central role of clinicians. Together, these developments create unique opportunities for embedded and policy-relevant research: evaluating preventive health outcomes, implementation fidelity, AI-supported care models, and the impact of social prescribing on vulnerable groups. This presentation will showcase how Singapore’s integrated reforms enhance population health, and highlight research partnerships that can inform innovation, evaluation, and scale-up in the Hong Kong context.

Biography: 
Jose M Valderas is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Research in Health Systems Performance at the National University of Singapore, and Head of the Department of Family Medicine of the National University Health System. He is the founding Editor in Chief of Frontiers in Health Services and the elected lead for Research at the World Organization of Family Doctors WONCA. He has expertise in patient centred metrics of health system performance for value based health care and in the reorientation of health systems for responding to multimorbidity. With over 20 years of clinical experience in General Practice, he has provide expert advice and co-led projects with the World Health Organization (Primary Health Care), the World Economic Forum (Health Equity) and the Organization for the Economic Development and Cooperation (Patient Centred Measurement of Health System Performance).

Title:
Statement of Lancet Commission on Transforming Primary Health Care Post-COVID Era

Abstract:
Primary health care (PHC) has faced unprecedented pressures and new opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. To synthesize evidence on pandemic-era challenges and reforms, and to develop actionable recommendations in supporting PHC transformation, the Lancet Commission on Transforming Primary Health Care in the Post-COVID-19 Era is established, comprising leading researchers and international experts in PHC sciences, health policy and systems, family medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health from across seven world regions. 
This talk will present the Commission’s Statement, report its process, and highlight key findings in six focus areas: equity in access to health services, person-centred care, digital health innovation and AI, medical social integration, future PHC workforce, and PHC preparedness for future health emergencies. This talk will also summarize some actionable recommendations proposed by the Commission, offering practical strategies for transforming PHC to meet future community needs.

Biography:
Prof William Wong is currently Clinical Professor and the Chairperson at Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong. Prof Wong Graduated from University of Edinburgh in 1993 and completed the General Practice Vocational Training at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital, London in 1998 and has extensive academic and clinical experience from the UK, Australia, Hong Kong and China. He is the Founding Member of Faculty of Travel Medicine, RCPS (UK) and conferred Honorary Membership from the Faculty of Public Health (UK) in 2015. He is appointed on WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STAC-HHS 2021-24) and has been temporary advisor for WHO West Pacific Office on a number of HIV/ sexual health guidelines. He found WONCA Health Equity Special Interest Group in 2014. He served as the Chief of Service for Department of Family Medicine at the HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, China (2018-21) and the Co-Director of Guangdong Provincial Train-the-Trainer Centre for GPs. He is the Vice Chair of the Third General Practice Committee of Shenzhen Medical Association and on the Executive Committee of Cross Strait Medical Exchange Association; and, General Practice Branch of China Association for Promotion of International Exchange of Medical Care China.

Title:
Post-pandemic Primary Healthcare in Small Island Developing States – The Experience of Fiji

Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted healthcare systems worldwide, with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Fiji facing unique challenges due to their geographic isolation, limited resources, and vulnerable populations. This presentation examines Fiji’s post-pandemic primary healthcare landscape, highlighting adaptive strategies and innovations implemented to rebuild and strengthen health services. Drawing on lessons learned, it discusses the integration of digital health technologies, community engagement, and workforce capacity building as critical components in enhancing healthcare resilience and accessibility. The experience underscores the importance of flexible, community-centered approaches in managing both pandemic response and ongoing health needs, including non-communicable diseases and mental health. By reflecting on Fiji’s successes and ongoing challenges, this presentation offers valuable insights for other SIDS aiming to fortify primary healthcare systems in a post-pandemic world, emphasizing sustainability, equity, and preparedness.

 
Biography:
Associate Professor Donald Wilson is a Public Health Physician and epidemiologist, and an academic leader with a career spanning close to 30 years in public health, epidemiology and toxicology. He is currently the Associate Dean Research of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at the Fiji National University and also the inaugural Director of the Fiji Institute of Pacific Health Research (FIPHR) at the same College. Dr Wilson earned his PhD in occupational and environmental epidemiology in Japan, focusing on the respiratory health effects of air pollution in industrial cities in Northeastern China. Since returning to Fiji 10yrs ago, his research engagement and interests have broadened to include water-sensitive diseases, re-emerging communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Pacific, sexual and reproductive health, Planetary health, and particularly the importance of policy impact of Pacific health research works. He has also been engaged by the WHO as a temporary advisor on Primary Health Care, in the efforts of the WHO Western Pacific Region to strengthen primary health care in its member countries, especially in the small island developing Pacific states, after the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Wilson will share some of the strengths and challenges encountered by resource-constrained SIDS like Fiji, in health development, especially the strengthening and remodelling of Primary Health Care delivery.

Title:
Making PHC Great Again: Potential Disruptors and Transformative Influences on Primary Health Care in The U.S.

Abstract:
This talk will review numerous substantial shifts impacting the primary health care landscape in the U.S. For some time, the primary health care system in the U.S. has been underperforming and suffering stress, evidenced in America’s particularly dismal performance in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to its top rating in the Global Health Security Index. Primary health care in the U.S. is now experiencing additional revolutionary influences. Political tides have metamorphosized the nature of the relationship between the federal government and primary health care, ranging from the Making America Healthy Again report to paradigm shifts in how federal government agencies support vaccines and public health activities to the elimination of USAID and the majority of America’s governmental support for global health. Continued questions surround how primary health care providers will need to respond to a continued cascade of additional federal executive orders as well as current uncertainty around future financial support for health care dedicated to the most vulnerable and underserved. At the same time, all of this is occurring in the context of a world being transformed by large language models and generative artificial intelligence, including new tools appearing for use in health care every day.

Biography:
Jeff Markuns is the Senior Medical Director for Community Health Centers at Harbor Health Services (home of the first federally qualified health center in the U.S.) as well as a practicing family physician at Boston Medical Center and founding Director of the Master’s program in Health Professions Education at Boston University.  Jeff is also the Immediate Past President for the North America Region of the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) and has extensive international experience leading national-level primary care system strengthening efforts throughout southeast Asia.  Jeff was also the Executive Director for the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI), a global partnership of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, the Global Fund, Ariadne Labs and Results for Development in better measuring primary health care in low and middle income countries, until its conclusion in 2023.