Convergence de la médecine générale et de la santé publique : exemples internationaux et enjeux actuels [Convergence of primary care and public health : international examples and current issues]

Blending public health and primary care together means building bridges between professionals - those who deal with the health and care of individuals and those who deal with the health of a population. At the organizational level, many factors facilitate the integration of these two areas among which : a clear mandate with a vision, identified goals, and the development of a collaborative culture. In French-speaking Switzerland, the integration of public health and general medicine into a common university dynamic was one of the driving forces behind the Alliance santé project that led to the creation of Unisanté in 2019. Elsewhere in the world, similar institutions already exist and sometimes take different forms. In this article, we will briefly present four of them in Wales, Scotland, Canada and the Netherlands.