Despite the progress being made towards Primary Health Care (PHC) globally, the concept is still often misunderstood, even within the public health community. While the provision of high-quality comprehensive primary care is indeed a defining feature, PHC encompasses a broader and more holistic approach to health and well-being rooted in the principals of equity, human rights and social justice. PHC recognises the importance of designing and delivering people-centred health services that address all the health needs of people, both physical and mental, acute and chronic, communicable and noncommunicable, rather than treating individual diseases and disorders in isolation from one another. As Hippocrates, the father of medicine said, “It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has”. This Primer offers a contemporary understanding of PHC and more conceptual clarity. Most importantly, it provides extensive examples of how PHC is being implemented in practice. The Primer will also serve as the basis for a companion publication that will use data on the status of PHC capacities and performance globally, using the PHC measurement framework, to generate further guidance for countries to strengthen their PHC approach.