Studies suggest that India needs to strengthen its primary and preventive healthcare across both public and private sectors to achieve universal health coverage. This report explains the importance of primary care as a platform for preventive efforts, such as nutrition counseling, mothers’ groups, and outreach for school health. Primary care can also serve as a coordination point to address social determinants of health, including clean water and sanitation.

The report includes a framework that illustrates the diversity of the primary care market and the forces that shape the markets where primary care is provided. It includes the range of providers, service delivery settings, and business relationships for primary care provision in India. The framework also takes into account significant differences in geographies and socioeconomic contexts across the country. It offers a process to help policy makers assess and design primary care interventions. Steps include defining the goal of the intervention, identifying the key market, identifying the key actors, and evaluating market forces and risks.

Policy makers and program designers can use this framework to develop potential solutions that would increase access to quality primary care and create programs that shift incentives toward more sustainable and locally driven solutions. It also can be used to map progress and make any necessary adjustments in existing programs.