Health Sovereignty: A Historical and Political Analysis of Primary Healthcare Development and Idea Transfer in Iran and the Global Context

Abstract

Introduction This article examines the political aspects of health and its relationship with policy, politics, and polity. It emphasizes the significance of the primary healthcare (PHC) approach, rooted in anthropology, in driving societal health progress and the centrality of health in social policies, particularly concerning government legitimacy. Methods This qualitative, exploratory-historical study uses an inductive approach and a scope review to analyze PHC progress globally and in Iran. It involves 75 interviews with senior PHC policymakers and historical document analysis, focusing on power impact and policy transfer in the last 100 years. Results This paper highlights how different countries, including the Soviet Union, China, England, and Iran, have impacted the World Health Organization (WHO) and primary healthcare (PHC) literature through idea transfer. The study specifically focuses on Iran, showing how idea transmission, political economy, power centres and public culture influenced institutional health policy creation and control through the power of approval or veto. Conclusion This study highlights the flow of ideas within the PHC domain and the connection between countries' efforts and the role of the WHO in shaping the health system globally. This article theorizes that health is a sustainable global goal separating health as a political issue from politicization. It makes it a historical territorial political issue beyond regime constraints, with historical identity and historical accumulative sovereignty. Therefore, health should be seen beyond the interests of political regimes. Such a campaign can link health policies with global politics; in this case, it can play a role in global polity.