The Family Health Strategy, a strong model of Primary Health Care that delivers results

ABSTRACT This article uses the health systems framework of the World Health Organization to review and synthesize evidence on the impact of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) within the concepts of access, financial protection, quality of services, system efficiency, health impact, and equity. The results suggest that the FHS contributed to the improvement in all those indicators, with effects on access and equity nearly at the level observed in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Although there is still great room for improvement, the evidence is clear that the FHS is a powerful and effective approach to the organization of primary health care in Brazil.