CEO's

From the CEO's Desk: The April 2004 Core Executive Meeting

The full Wonca Executive Meeting in April 2004 did not take place as planned. It was earlier decided at the Beijing Wonca Executive Meeting in November 2003 that the financial status of Wonca at the end of 2003 did not permit the additional expense of a full Wonca Executive Meeting.

Neverthelesss, as there were important issue that needed urgent followup and decisions, it was decided that a small group from the Executive would meet. This gave rise to the 15th - 17th April 2004 Core Executive Meeting in Singapore attended by the Wonca World President, the President Elect, Honorary Treasurer, Chair of the Orlando Conference Organising Committee, the Wonca CEO and the Secretariat Administrative Manager. The smaller group meeting in Singapore meant considerable savings in terms of airfare, accommodations and per diem reimbursements. The other Members of Executive not present were kept informed as all agenda and agenda papers were sent to them early thus allowing for comments and feedback on issues to the Core Executive.

The Agenda for the Core Executive Meeting was a very full one. I wanted to highlight in my column several important issues that would be of special interest to Wonca's Member Organisations and Direct Members.

Conference Levies

This issue arose from a working paper presented by the CEO on the disadvantages of the current conference levy policy in the bidding process by organisations keen to host a World or Regional Conferences. It was felt necessary that some other method be applied that would ensure that the bid be made financially neutral. After much discussion, Core Executive recommended that for future conferences:

The use of levies as part of the bid process in securing the hosting of a
Wonca World or Regional Conference be abandoned;

The Member Organisation selected to host a conference be advised of
the levy to be paid by Wonca Executive in consultation with the Regional
President or the CEO;
The agreement between Wonca and the Member Organization to host a
conference be in the form of a contract specifying the respective duties and
obligations of both parties;
The levies be allowed to be stratified into specific categories with fixed
amounts of discounts allowed;
The guidelines once approved at the next Executive Meeting be
implemented beginning January 2008 and applicable to all subsequent
Wonca World and Regional Conferences.

The above guidelines by Core Executive will be discussed further at the next Wonca Full Executive Meeting in St Augustine, USA in October 2004 at which time the final guidelines would be drafted.

Cost Cutting Measures for Wonca

As in all past Wonca Executive Meetings, financial matters took up a considerable part of the time and attention of Executive. Of particular interest to Core Executive at this meeting were the ways in which Wonca could set about reducing the cost of running the Organisation.

The CEO spoke at length to his report on cost cutting measures for the Organisation. This was followed by extensive discussions within Core Executive. The following measures were identified as possible avenues for cost savings :

reorganising the conduct of business by the World Executive Committee,
such as reducing the frequency of Full Executive Meetings to an annual
basis and introducing Core Executive Meetings between the Full Executive
Meetings.
restructuring the manner in which funds are granted to Regions, Committees,
Working Parties and Task Forces.
reducing Wonca representation at international invitational events or
meetings.
ceasing the printing and distribution of hard copies of the Wonca Directory
while posting it on the Wonca Website with certain safeguards.
reducing the cost or production and distribution of Wonca News.
reexamining the subscription rates for Direct Membership and its
apportioning between the Regions and World Wonca .

Core Executive also suggested that for Wonca to position itself well financially in the years ahead, there needed to be a " reserve policy" whereby a certain agreed percentage of its funds would be set aside annually. This would require very stringent cost cutting measures as outlined above and could only be done over a long period of time. Core Executive felt that with the current financial volatility in Wonca, at least a one-year reserve policy would be necessary.

New Member Organisations admitted

This triennium ( 2002 - 2004 ) has seen an unprecedented growth in membership of Wonca. This trend has continued. At its meeting the Core Executive, on the recommendation of the Membership Committee, admitted the following organizations:

The Bahrain Family Physicians' Association as a full member of Wonca.
The Georgia Family Medicine Association as a full member of Wonca.
The Jordan Society of Family Physicians as a full member of Wonca.
The Scientific Interdisciplinary Association of both Family and Community Medicine (AsSIMeFaC ) of Italy as a full member of Wonca.
The Belarussian Association of General Practitioners as an Organization in Collaborative Relations with Wonca.

With these latest additions, Wonca has now 88 Member Organisations in its fold with 9 Organisations in Collaborative Relations. I am confident that the next triennium will see the admission of the 100th Member Organisation of Wonca. The increasing numbers of Member Organisations in this triennium also required the establishing of a whole new Wonca Region - the Iberoamericana CIMF. There is a strong likelihood that another new region --- The MiddleEast Region of Wonca --- will be formed within this triennium or at the start of the next triennium.

We have grown significantly as a global organization in this triennium!

Junior Direct Membership

This item was discussed by Core Executive following the discovery that a large number of FM/GP residents had registered for the Conference in Amsterdam. Executive also felt that having a " junior" category of Wonca Direct Membership would be a small step in the right direction to train future leaders for the Organisation.

After much discussion, it was decided by Core Executive that the following be recommended that:
the "Junior" Direct Membership would be included under the Wonca Direct Membership category;
an appropriate name be given to the category of "Junior" Direct Membership ( JDM);
the JDM would be open to Residents of FM/GP only. The definition of Resident would be a doctor in a defined period of training to be a Family Physician / General Practitioner.
That the JDM fee would be 50% of the full Wonca Direct Membership fee.
That JDM would receive the same benefits of membership as full Wonca Direct Members.
That JDM would be listed separately in future Wonca Directories for easy reference.
that the CEO and Wonca World Secretariat would administer the JDM scheme.

Other items of agenda covered

Several other major agenda items of importance were also covered by Core Executive:

1. Wonca Bylaws & Regulations: the final details of and procedural requirements on changes for the Wonca Bylaws & Regulations were discussed.

2. ICPC-2: the promotion of the use of ICPC-2 by Wonca Member Organisations,
its recognition by the World Health Organization's Family of International Classifications and the need for a review of the
Wonca contract with Oxford University Press were items discussed.

3. Wonca World Conference: the Orlando Conference and associated Wonca World Council and full Wonca Executive Meeting were covered in detail with the Dr Dan
Ostergaard, the Wonca 2004 Host Organizing Committee Chair, present.

4. Wonca Website: a review of the past 2.5 years of www.globalfamilydoctor.com and plans for the future of the website were covered by Core Executive.

5. Relations with the World Health Organization and other international Non- Governmental Organizations, the state of international relations with these bodies and the future areas of collaborations were discussed.

In future issues of Wonca News, I hope to cover in my CEO's Column some of the topics mentioned above in greater detail.

Conclusion

This Core Executive Meeting was a useful first attempt by Wonca Executive to keep down the cost of running the Organisation. It is probable that the next triennium may see Wonca Executive meetings as a full Committee annually with the Core Executive meeting between these full Committee Meetings in cheaper venues to help keep costs down.

Dr Alfred Loh
Chief Executive Officer
World Organization of Family Doctors