Function of primary health care institutions in pandemics

Primary health care institutions and physicians play a fundamental role and are the first line in the prevention and control of pandemics.Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019(COVID-19) in 2019, nearly 4 million primary healthcare professionals across the country have been actively participated in pandemic screening, routine diagnosis and treatment, observation (or monitoring) isolated subjects, and crossing management.Facing outbreaks of pandemics, the key issue for primary health care institutions is how to improve the prevention and control capabilities, and how to take effective and comprehensive response measures.Based on the practical experiences of primary health care institutions in prevention and control for COVID-19 in China together with domestic and international experience and lessons in history, this paper discussed the following issues:internal and external structure of primary health care institutions, medical material storage and reservation, technical support, capability of medical personnel, and continuous health management in residents.This study aims to provide suggestions to improve the capability of primary health care institutions in pandemics prevention and control.