From the Wonca President:
Family Medicine is Alive and Well in the
2
Gulf
From the CEO’s Desk
:
Promising Developments for a
3
7th Wonca Region
From the Editor
:
Improving Health Care and People’s
4
Health – Family Doctors Helping Family
Doctors
FEATURE STORIES
5
•Flemish Council Funds Family Medicine Network in East and
South Africa
•GFD’s Three Medical Editors Keep Wonca Online Relevant
Wonca REGIONAL NEWS
8
•Wonca Americas Region Council Meets in Vancouver
•Wonca Europe Region to Convene in Florence
HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS
11
•AAFP Works to Improve Primary Health Care in Albania
•New Zealand’s GP’s Ageing Faster Then Being Replenished
MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
13
•Tamar Gabunia: Wonca Global Family Doctor for December 2005
•Sugito Wonodirekso: Wonca Global Family Doctor for January 2006
•Celebrating the Life of Jack Marshall
•In Memoriam: Dr H Shigemoto
RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
16
• WHO Report Calls for Greater Global Focus on Chronic Diseases
•Online Educational Resources on Tobacco
WONCA CONFERENCES 2006-2011 AT A GLANCE
18
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
19
VOLUME 32
NUMBER 1
FEBRUARY 2006
CONTENTS
Wonca website:
http://www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com
Wonca President
Prof Bruce Sparks, South Africa
2 Cruden Bay Road
Greenside
Johannesburg 2193
South Africa
Tel: 27 11 646 2140
Fax: 27 11 717 2558
Email: brucespa@global.co.za
Wonca Chief Executive Officer
Dr Alfred W T Loh
Wonca Administrative Manager
Ms Yvonne Chung
World Organization of Family Doctors
College of Medicine Building
16 College Road # 01-02
Singapore 169854
Tel: 65 6224 2886
Fax: 65 6324 2029
Email: admin@wonca.com.sg
Wonca President-Elect
Prof Chris van Weel, Netherlands
Wonca Immediate Past President
Dr Michael Boland, Ireland
Honorary Treasurer
Richard Roberts, MD, USA
Wonca Regional Presidents
Dr Abra T Fransch, Africa
Warren A Heffron, MD, Americas
A/Prof Goh Lee Gan, Asia Pacific
Prof Igor Svab, Europe
Dr Shatendra K Gupta, Middle East
South Asia
Dr Adolfo Rubinstein,
Iberoamericana-CIMF
Wonca Executive Members at Large
Dr Javier Dominguez del Olmo, Mexico
Prof Michael Kidd, Australia
Richard Roberts, MD, USA
Chair, Bylaws and Regulations
Dan Ostergaard, MD, USA
Chair, Publications & Communications
Dr Geoffrey D Martin, Australia
Editor, Wonca News and Editorial Office
Marc L Rivo, MD
4566 Prairie Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33140, USA
Tel: 305 671 7327
Fax: 305 674 8839
Email: marcrivo@aol.com
WONCA GLOBAL SPONSORS
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT:
FAMILY MEDICINE IS ALIVE AND WELL IN
THE GULF
“Our vision is that Primary Health Care Centers will
be GCC’s first choice for health care.”
Dr. Tawfik A. M. Khoja,
Director General, Health Ministers’ Council - Gulf
Cooperative Council
An invitation, earlier this month to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, to be an external examiner in the clinical
examination of the Arab Board for Medical Specialization
in the field of Family Medicine, proved to be an exciting
and enlightening experience. The Arab Board was
founded in 1978 by the Council of Arab Health Ministers,
within the Arab League with the aim of standardising
training and assessment of residents across the region.
Training is however the responsibility of the local board
or organisation responsible for accreditation and
training in each country across the Arab World from
Libya, Egypt and Sudan in Africa, through the Arabian
Peninsula, to the Middle East. The clinical examinations
were held in Jeddah, Dubai, and Bahrain. Prof Michael
Kidd, from Australia was the external examiner in
Bahrain and Dr Salmon Rawaf, from the UK, joined the
team in Dubai.
My hosts in Jeddah on the Red Sea were the local
Members of the Arab Board and the Saudi Society of
Family and Community Medicine. Their hospitality was of
course superb and I am still suffering from a massive
overdose of shell fish, cuscus and Um Ali (Mother of Ali),
a delicious local version of bread pudding!
The candidates in Jeddah were residents from across
Saudi Arabia. What amazed me was that all candidates
were examined in English, and the majority were able to
communicate with aplomb in this second language not
only when discussing clinical issues, but also when the
more complicated nuances of the language were
required to deal with ethical and philosophical issues.
The standard of knowledge and expertise of the
candidates was in the main excellent and, without
hesitation and with total confidence, I would, have
handed over the care of my own shellfish and Um Ali
induced myocardial infarct to a number of the
candidates! What also struck me, as it has in other
parts of the world, was the universality and
commonality of the content and scope of the family
WONCA
News
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT
2
medicine curriculum with that across the world, be it in
New Zealand, South Africa, UK, Malaysia or Canada.
Wonca President, Bruce Sparks, cutting his birthday cake while in
Saudi Arabia. Looking on are Dr Sameer Alsabban, from Makkah and
Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, Director of the Joint Programme for Family and
Community Medicine, Jeddah.
Examining panel for the clinical examinations in Jeddah. Dr Sameer
Alsabban (Makkah), Prof Bruce Sparks, Dr Shawki Ameen (Bahrain),
Dr Khaldoom Al-Roomi (Bahrain)
Another exciting element of the training and
assessment was the seamless integration of community/
public health elements in the curriculum for family
physicians. Funding of training programmes in Family
Medicine is a major inhibitor in many countries around
the world. Traditional specialist disciplines often have
first grab at any health education budget. In Jeddah, the
training occurs in the Joint Family and Community
Medicine Programme. It is a junction in two senses. Not
WONCA
News
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT / FROM THE CEO’S DESK
3
FROM THE CEO’S DESK:
PROMISING DEVELOPMENTS FOR A 7TH WONCA
REGION
I was invited to attend the First International Primary Health Care
Conference in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi sometime in early May 2005. I
accepted the invitation as I felt it would provide Wonca with a good
opportunity to progress the agenda of creating a new seventh region for
Wonca. This move to create the new region started following my attendance
at the Lebanese Society of Family Medicine Annual Scientific Conference in
Beirut in 2003 where I met a good number of representatives from the
only is there considerable integration of the two community-based
disciplines in a single training entity, but the Programme which has been
functional for over a decade, has developed out of a true collaboration
using the combined resources of the Saudi Society of Family and Community
Medicine, The National Guard, and the National Departments of Health and
Defence. The resultant programme conducted in the grounds of the
National Guard is of a high academic and clinical standard.
Embryo of a New Wonca Arab Region
For some time, there has been discussion within and outside Wonca
about the possibility of establishing a new 7th “Arab Region” of the
organisation. The WHO in its Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) has 21
member countries ranging from Morocco in the west to Pakistan in the east
and from Syria down to Somalia in Africa. At present, the North African
countries are not part of Wonca. There are suggestions that the new Wonca
Region could incorporate as its core members 5 of the countries presently
represented in the MESAR (Middle East South Asia) Region, namely Bahrain,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Such a region could then include
other countries in North Africa, the Gulf Region, and the Middle East.
Organisations in many of these countries have already indicated an interest
to join the World Organisation. We will watch developments in this part of
the World with interest.
Professor Bruce Sparks
President
World Organization of Family Doctors
P.S. In my message in the last edition of Wonca News, I asked, “Are the
World’s family doctors prepared for an avian influenza pandemic?” It is
with regret that this month we are witnessing a spread of Avian Flu as far
west as Italy and also now south into Nigeria. We hope that the occurrence
in Africa will not signal a major spread and mutation to a human form,
given the poor veterinary services in the continent. Is the Pandemic getting
closer and are we really prepared?
various national organizations of
family doctors in the Middle East.
Following that initial enthusiasm,
progress had been slow. The
conference in Abu Dhabi provided
an opportunity for some fresh
initiatives to be launched.
The Conference was hosted by
the Department of Primary
Healthcare and Preventative Services
of Abu Dhabi. It was organized in
collaboration with WHO’s Eastern
Mediterranean Regional Office, the
Council of Health Ministers of the
GCC States, the World Federation for
Medical Education, the International
Primary Care Research Group and
Wonca among others. The theme of
the Conference was “The Challenges
in Primary Care” and was held from
21
st
– 23
rd
January 2006 at the
Rotana Beach Hotel and Conference
Centre.
The morning plenary sessions
included among others :
1.Models of Primary Health Care in
countries of the Middle-east and
elsewhere.
2.The Changing Concepts of
Primary Health Care.
3.Challenges of Family Practice in
the Arab World.
4.Mental Health.
5.Postgraduate Programmes in
Family Medicine
The afternoon concurrent
sessions covered topics such as:
1.School Health
2.Dental Health
3.Maternal and Child Health
4.Postgraduate training
programmes
5.Accreditation in Primary Health
Care
6.Family Medicine Research
The quality of the papers
presented in all the sessions were
of a high standard with very active
audience participation during the
afternoon concurrent sessions.
FROM THE EDITOR:
IMPROVING HEALTH CARE AND
PEOPLE’S HEALTH: FAMILY DOCTORS
HELPING FAMILY DOCTORS
Founded with a dozen member organizations in
1972, today Wonca and its 105 member organizations in
88 countries and their family doctors cover an estimated
85% of the world’s population. A multicolored tapestry
of articles in this February issue of Wonca News record
how family doctors are helping their fellow family
doctors improve health care and people’s health around
the globe.
In his President’s Column, Bruce Sparks reports on
the invitation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the
resultant work of several family doctors to assist the
Arab Board of Medical Specialization in their clinical
examination in Family Medicine. Wonca Executive
member Michael Kidd (Australia), Salmon Wawaf (United
Kingdom) and Bruce traveled to Bahrain, Dubai and
Jeddah, respectively, to serve as clinical examiners in
their family medicine examinations.
This issue features several other examples of how
family doctors are helping family doctors around the
globe. The Flemish Inter-university Council recently
approved a three year, 310,000 EU grant to support
Ghent University’s Department of Family Medicine and
Primary Health Care together with the family medicine
departments of the Universities of Louvain, Antwerp and
Brussels to foster newly developing programs of family
medicine in East Africa, strengthen the already
functioning network of family medicine departments in
South Africa, and improve people’s health in the region.
Wonca Americas Region President, Warren Heffron,
reports on their Regional meeting in Vancouver where
family medicine development in North America and the
Caribbean were discussed. This issue reports on the
American Academy of Family Physicians’ new Center for
International Health Initiatives project to strengthen
family medicine in Albania.
This issue honors a number of family doctors who
have made a difference. Tamar Gabunia has been
actively involved in the development of Health Care
Reform in the Republic of Georgia. Sugito Wonodirekso
is a Wonca Council member representing the Association
of Indonesian Family Physicians. Both were nominated
selected as Global Family Doctors of the Month. Wonca
News celebrates the life and global contributions of two
WONCA
News
FROM THE CEO’S DESK / FROM THE EDITOR
Credit should be given to the Host Organising
Committee for the high scientific standard of the
presentations.
The presence of various representatives from the
different national organizations in the Middle-east
provided the opportunity for two significant side
meetings to take place.
Firstly, the Wonca Special Interest Group (SIG) in
Psychiatry headed by Dr Gabriel Ivbijaro with family
doctors from the region and I held a special meeting
with Dr Michelle Funk, Mental Health Policy and Service
Development of the Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse, WHO, to advance the WHO-Wonca
collaboration for a proposed paper on “
Recommendations On Integration of Mental Health Into
Primary Care”. The meeting ended with some very
constructive suggestions on how best to approach the
issue and to make the recommendations practical and
user-friendly to busy family doctors.
Secondly, with the kind help of Dr Abyad, Chair of
the Scientific Committee of the Conference, I met with
all the representatives of family doctor organizations
present at the Conference. The main intention of this
meeting was to further explore the formation of a
Middle East Region of Wonca. Representatives from
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain,
Lebanon, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sudan were
present. All of these representatives were highly in
favour of forming the new region. Currently, six member
organizations from the Middle-East are members of
Wonca: Bahrain, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and
UAE. It was agreed at the meeting that the new Wonca
Region will be formed when there are eight member
organizations from the Middle East Region to form the
Regional Council.
When this new Seventh Wonca Region is ready to be
formed, it is proposed that the existing Middle East
South Asia (MESA) Region become two separate regions
- The Wonca South Asia Region and The Wonca Middle
East Region.
Dr Alfred Loh
Chief Executive Officer
World Organization of Family Doctors
4
WONCA
News
FROM THE EDITOR / FEATURE STORIES
5
FEATURE STORIES
FLEMISH COUNCIL FUNDS COLLABORATIVE FAMILY
MEDICINE NETWORK IN EAST AND SOUTH AFRICA
The Flemish Inter-university Council recently approved a three year,
310,000 EU grant to foster newly developing programs of family medicine in
East Africa, strengthen the already functioning network of family medicine
departments in South Africa, and promote the realization of health for all
through South-South cooperation. This represents the culmination of
synergistic efforts among a variety of collaborators under the leadership of
Ghent University’s Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care
together with the family medicine departments of the Universities of
Louvain, Antwerp and Brussels (the Flemish Consortium ICHO).
Wonca’s designation of East Africa as a high priority for its global
mission provided impetus for the pursuit of supportive grant funding. With
this in mind, a workshop was held in January, 2005 in Pretoria, South Africa
to explore the feasibility of a proposal to the Flemish Inter-university Council
through Ghent University and the Flemish Consortium. Administrative and
technical support was provided by Global Health for Education, Training and
Service (GHETS) with encouragement from the Network: TUFH. Educators
and practitioners from eight countries in East and Southern Africa attended
this workshop. Wonca president, Bruce Sparks, and Wonca Africa Regional
President, Abra Fransch, were active participants. As background for their
deliberations, attendees first reviewed the success of South Africa’s Family
Medicine Educational Consortium (FaMEC) in developing postgraduate
training for family physicians in primary health care. This consortium was
initiated in 1997 and, since April 2003, has received significant support from
Belgium’s Ghent University and the Flemish Inter-university Council’s Own
Initiatives Project.
Eight South African departments of family medicine founded FaMEC as an
interactive network to exchange information, teaching modules and a variety
of educational resources. This unified approach has also strengthened their
ability to advocate for family medicine at the national level. FaMEC has
developed a national training program in family medicine through the
establishment of training complexes in remote and underserved areas, a
core curriculum in family medicine and shared didactic and content
materials. Training is now organized within the context of primary health
care in district health systems throughout the country. The South African
experience provides an exemplary template for combining resources and
expertise to create sustainable, high quality approaches to the education of
generalist physicians at the undergraduate, postgraduate and continuous
professional development levels.
Attendees at the Pretoria conference felt that these experiences would
be especially relevant for neighboring African countries and that those in
East Africa would likely benefit from a comparably organized regional
network. The January workshop in Pretoria enabled representatives from
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe to communicate lessons
learned and to identify challenges they had encountered in establishing
family medicine training programs. Participants agreed on the need for
Wonca leaders, Jack Marshall and
Hirosada Shigemoto.
Three family doctors help Global
Family Doctor - Wonca Online -
serve as a relevant and timely
resource helping family doctors
around the globe. Wes Fabb has
been Medical Editor since the
inception of Global Family Doctor in
2001. Stephen Wilkinson joined him
in 2004 and Jim Vause in 2005. This
issue reports that they scan the
contents of over 170 family
medicine, general and specialist
online journals and medical news
services for articles relevant to
family doctors.
Please continue to send me
stories of how Wonca’s member
organizations, Working Parties, Task
Forces and Special Interest Groups,
family medicine/general practice
departments and individual family
doctors are helping family doctors
improve health care and people’s
health around the world.
Marc L. Rivo, M.D, M.P.H.
Editor, Wonca News
marcrivo@aol.com
4566 Prairie Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33140 USA
1-305-674-8839 (fax)
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES
community-based training in primary health care in sub-
Saharan Africa and for mutually beneficial exchanges
between South Africans and East Africans.
The momentum from the shared commitment
emerging from Pretoria led to a follow-up meeting in
Kampala, Uganda in August 2005, at which time 11
representatives from family medicine organizations in
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the DRC and South
Africa met to develop the framework for a proposal to
the Flemish Inter-university Council consistent with the
grant’s requirements. Through a collaborative process of
discussion and debate the group identified challenges,
objectives to be achieved, strategies to be pursued and
a work plan. Following the 3-day conference,
participants continued to contribute to the final grant
proposal which was coordinated through the offices of
GHETS and the University of Ghent with oversight from
Professor De Maeseneer.
A happy group of hard-working colleagues representing 8 countries in
East and Southern Africa
The Rugazi Health Center
Attendees at the Kampala meeting
Small group working party at Makerere
Participants reflecting on a presentation at the Pretoria workshop
When fully implemented, this project will support the
creation of a South-South network of training programs
that will contribute to family medicine development in
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the DRC with provision for
future outreach to neighboring countries such as
Rwanda and Zimbabwe. A forum will be created for this
process that will be led by African institutions to:
•Define the discipline and specialty of family medicine
within the African context in a manner consistent
with the specific needs, resources, and cultural
heritage of Africa;
6
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES
7
•Based on this definition, enhance
the quality of program content,
training and educational
methods including community-
based education programs within
training complexes;
•Promote collaborative research ;
and
•Foster high quality and locally
relevant continuing professional
development.
This grant will support a network
that integrates primary health care
training within and between African
countries similar to the role of
FaMEC in South Africa. Departments
of Family Medicine at the Aga Khan
Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Moi
University in Kenya, Mbarara and
Makerere Universities in Uganda,
Centre Universitaire de Goma in the
DRC, and the fledgling family
medicine organizations in these
countries will collaborate to form
this network. Training will focus on
the best way to educate family
physicians to contribute optimally to
interdisciplinary primary health care
services oriented towards the needs
of individuals, their families and the
communities in which they live. This
will require capacity building,
community participation, sharing of
educational approaches, and
relevant research.
These efforts to develop a
consortium of strengthened family
medicine departments with a
flexible core curriculum and an
established means of
communication and sharing are
likely to enable significant
contributions to more equitable and
locally relevant primary health care
systems. - thus affirming respect for
the integral role of the generalist/
family physician within the primary
health care team. In addition to
benefiting those in sub-Saharan
Africa, this collaborative model
provides an exemplary blueprint for
achieving WHO’s elusive goal of a
level of health for all citizens of the
world that will permit them to lead
socially and economically productive
lives. Invigorated by the cumulative
input from so many committed
individuals, this project represents a
tangible step towards achieving
“Health for All” and relieving the
immense burden of disease
throughout the world, especially in
low-income countries.
Jan De Maeseneer, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Family Medicine and
Primary Health Care
Ghent University and I.C.H.O.
Jannie Hugo, MB ChB, M Fam Med
Department of Family Medicine
University of Pretoria
Vincent R. Hunt, M.D.
Representing the Wonca East Africa
Initiative
GHETS, The Network: TUFH
Rachel True, MPH
Executive Director, GHETS
Also representing The Network:
TUFH
GFD’s Three Medical
Editors Keep Wonca
Online Relevant
Wes Fabb has been Medical
Editor since the inception of Global
Family Doctor in 2001. Stephen
Wilkinson joined him in 2004 and
Jim Vause in 2005. Between them
they scan the contents pages of
over 170 family medicine, general
and specialist online journals and
medical news services for articles
relevant to family doctors. Over
4,000 article titles are scanned each
month. Interesting articles
describing clinical, epidemiological
and health services research are
summarized into items in Journal
Watch, and reviews of topics
relevant to family doctors are
featured in Clinical Reviews.
Summaries are posted within days
of publication. The purpose of this
service is to enable busy clinicians
to keep right up-to-date with
minimal time and effort. The
following is a brief introduction of
each GFD Medical Editor.
Professor Stephen Wilkinson
Stephen is a GP in Melbourne
and a Medical Educator with the
Joint University Centre for Education
and Training for General Practice
(JUCETGP) and regional coordinator
for two regions of metropolitan
Melbourne for the Victorian
Metropolitan Alliance (VMA), an
Australian GP Training Provider.
He has worked as a rural general
practitioner in southern NSW and as
a general practitioner in Hobart.
He has been involved in
undergraduate medical teaching and
assessment at the University of
Tasmania, the University of
Melbourne and Monash University.
He has many years of experience
in GP training including workshops,
practice visits and remediation of
registrars. He has also been
involved in programs to up-skill
doctors preparing for Fellowship of
the RACGP examination.
Stephen is an FRACGP, AMC
(Australian Medical Council) and
RWAV (Rural Workforce Agency of
Victoria) examiner.
He has contributed cases to the
RACGP site, ‘gplearning’
(www.gplearning.com.au), an
interactive online CPD education
service.
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES / REGIONAL NEWS
8
WONCA REGIONAL NEWS
WONCA AMERICAS
REGION COUNCIL MEETS
IN VANCOUVER
On December 8, 2005, the
Wonca Americas Region Council met
in Vancouver, BC in conjunction with
the College of Family Physicians of
Canada’s Annual Family Medicine
Forum. Attendees included Doctors
Warren Heffron (President, Americas
Region), Alain Pavilanus (President,
College of Family Physicians of
Canada), Cal Gutkin (CEO, CFPC),
Francine Lemire and John Maxted
(Staff, CFPC), Dr Alverston Bailey
(Caribbean College of Family
Physicians), Larry Fields (President,
American Academy of Family
Physicians), Perry Dickinson
(President, North American Primary
Care Research Group), William
Mygdal (President, Society of
Teachers of Family Medicine) and Mr
Roger Sherwood (CEO, STFM). The
Wonca World Executive was
represented by Doctors Alfred Loh
(CEO), Chris Van Weel (President
Elect), Richard Roberts (Treasurer),
and Dan Ostergaard (Chair, Bylaws
Committee). Attendees also
included Doctors Cheryl Levitt
(CoChair - Wonca Working Party
Women and Family Medicine), and
Edwina Yen (Pan American Health
Organization).
The Council was pleased that our
region has had two co-hosted
meetings with member organization
He is a single full-time father of
three teenage girls and is working
on other interests.
Professor Jim Vause
Having been a general
practitioner for some twenty-seven
years, Jim has always believed in
the critical importance of research in
providing the guidance for clinical
care in general practice. A personal
favourite is the often quoted
“evidence trumps opinion”
statement which provides a lead in
to the world of evidence based
medicine as it applies to general
practice, and he feels privileged to
be able to work for Wonca with Wes
and Stephen in scanning the
literature for article of relevance to
the world of primary medical care.
Jim is a kiwi, being New Zealand
born and bred with a family tree
that stretches back to the very days
when the nation was born in the
early 1200’s with settlement from
Polynesia. He began his medical
work in rural general practice in the
southern south island of NZ, a place
his ancestors settled many many
moons ago. As a bright eyed young
doctor the excitement of rural
practice was very attracting,
however the arrival of two sons led
to his family’s settlement in the Top
of the South Island at Blenheim,
from where Jim became
progressively more involved in the
work of the RNZCGP culminating in
becoming President in 2003. It was
through the College that Jim became
involved in WONCA and the GFD
work which has aligned well with
his personal interest in EBM and
application to practice.
While no longer RNZCGP
President, Jim serves on various
national health committees for
workforce, screening and quality in
addition to a governance role for his
province’s Primary Care
Organisation. Jim still manages to
work about 5/10ths in his 4 doctor
practice which his wife manages.
Ruth is also a board member for
their local District Health Board.
Occasionally other interests such as
skiing, motorsport and windsurfing
obstructs his medical work.
Professor Wes Fabb
Professor Wes Fabb was born in
1930, graduated from the University
of Melbourne in 1955, and after two
years of residency and 14 years in
family practice in rural Victoria,
became the first Chief Examiner of
the Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners, Editor of
Australian Family Physician and
Director of the Check Program of
self assessment.
From 1973 he was Director of
Education of the College’s vocational
training programme, the Family
Medicine Programme, until 1993
when he was appointed Professor of
Family Medicine at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong.
In 1997 he returned to
Melbourne to give full-time attention
to Wonca as CEO, a position he held
for 20 years, from which he retired
in 2001. He has been an honorary
staff member of the Department of
General Practice at Monash
University for almost 30 years. He is
an honorary member of several
overseas colleges/academies. He has
over 100 publications to his credit
and has been a speaker at
numerous international conferences.
Wes is now the Medical Editor of
Global Family Doctor - Wonca Online
and oversees the maintenance and
development of the site.
He and his wife Marian, who for
20 years was Administrative Officer
of Wonca, have six children, nine
grandchildren and a great grandson.
Most of the time they live at their
seaside home at Inverloch on the
south coast of Victoria, Australia.
WONCA
News
REGIONAL NEWS
9
annual meetings in each of the last
two years. The group urged other
organizations to consider doing this.
It is too late to have this happen in
2006 so we will have a Council
meeting at some point during the
AAFP annual meeting in Washington
D.C. in September of 2006. We will
plan to have at least a council
meeting each year, hopefully in
conjunction with a member
organization meeting.
ICPC2 was discussed in length
and an update was given as to
where it is currently being used and
that it is being considered by one or
two Canadian provinces and hopes
are that it may be used across
Canada as the most appropriate
coding standard for family medicine.
For widespread use it will be
imperative that either Wonca gain
exclusive rights to it or that an
ICPC3 be published.
Given the dramatic and much
welcomed growth of Wonca’s
regions and with the diversity of
membership categories, the Council
clarified member organization status
in our region. A request was made
for clarification of how the
Caribbean member organizations are
divided. The Spanish speaking
organizations are members of the
Ibero-American region, with the
exception of Puerto Rico which is a
commonwealth of the US and hence
is an AAFP chapter. The English,
French and Dutch speaking
organizations are members of the
Caribbean College.
The Council reviewed the name
of its region in light of Wonca’s new
Iberoamericana-CIMF Region. The
Americas Region has been our name
since the inception of Wonca. Today,
however, the Caribbean is divided
linguistically into both regions and
Mexico, while in North America, are
members of Ibero-America. The
consensus was that it is not really
appropriate to call ourselves the
Americas Region. The Council
decided to recommend to the
Wonca World Executive to change
our name to the North America
Region.
The term of office of the
president was reviewed. The bylaws
permit the regional president to
serve two consecutive three year
terms. Historically it has been
rotated to elect a member from the
three full member organizations and
recently each president has served
two terms. With a fourth full
member coming at the next World
Council meeting there was some
sentiment that we should limit the
terms to one term so a rotational
representation could be more
equitable. However, after discussion
it was decided to continue the
informal rotation but that order and
number of terms be left open to let
the council decide on the best
person every three years. A
suggestion was made that the group
be sensitive to diversity in future
decisions.
Dr. Edwina Yen presented a
paper on PAHO activities and
offered to explore avenues of
collaboration in the future. The
Council and Dr. Yen were in
agreement that there may be many
areas to collaborate but that we
would not pursue becoming a
collaborative center at this time.
Warren Heffron
President, Americas Region
wheffron@salud.unm.edu
Wonca Europe Region to
Convene in Florence
It is our pleasure to invite you to
the 12th Wonca Europe Regional
Conference that will be held in
Florence, Italy on August 27-30,
2006. The aim of the organizing
committee is to prepare in Florence
2006 an event to be remembered as
one of the most important offered
by WONCA Europe to its members
and all those caring for General
Practice/Family Medicine.
WONCA Europe has more than 30
member organizations and
represents more than 45,000 family
physicians in Europe. The society is
the academic and scientific society
of general practitioners in Europe.
The aim of the society is to improve
standards of care in General
Practice/Family Medicine; stimulate
networking among GPs with an
interest in professional
development, research, education
and quality improvement.
The conference theme “Towards
a Medical Renaissance: Bridging the
Gap Between Biology and
Humanities” seeks to bridge the gap
between biology and the
humanities. Illness, disease and
sickness, three words full of
meanings for one very specific
human biological condition, to be
understood, needs to be observed
from many different points of view.
That is precisely the exciting
underlying thread of the 12th
WONCA Europe Conference; a thread
that will conduct participants
through six main topics
1.biology and humanities
2.caring for the world
3.family practice research
4.quality
5.education
6.risk and safety
These themes will allow doctors,
while easily surfing through their
preferred conference sessions
presenting, discussing and facing
their own everyday real problems, to
be exposed to new ideas, state of
art knowledge and reliable
guidelines. Every moment of the
conference will be an occasion to
“think globally” in a rigorous
WONCA
News
REGIONAL NEWS
10
scientific manner and to “act back
locally” in a highly professional way.
Each one of these topics will
have a dedicated chairman that will
follow the works during the three
days of the conference and will
summarize the State of the Art in
the last plenary session. So
participants may follow the lectures
and sessions of their main interest
but, before leaving the conference,
will be informed about what of
relevance has been told in all the
other ones. Everyone will be able to
bring back home a clear idea about
the important ideas which emerged
during the ongoing process of the
conference.
With such relevant philosophical
and scientific inheritance, with its
beautiful Mediterranean climate,
good and healthy food, and great
shopping, Florence is the ideal place
for the 12th Conference of WONCA
Europe ESGP/FM. Florence is one of
the most beloved cities in the
world, an open sky museum famous
worldwide. In the fifteenth-century
Florence, a self-governed,
independent city-state with a
population of 60,000 became with
its writers, painters, architects and
philosophers the cradle of
Renaissance culture; Renaissance
shifted mankind into the centre of
the known cosmos ad man became
its measure.
Since the thirteenth century
travelers praised the warmth and
comfort of Florentine hospitality. The
tradition is carried on today by a
highly organized service totalling
more than 350 hotels and pensions
of different categories, able to
accommodate more than 20,000
guests. Most hotels are in the city
centre near the Congress Centre
Fortezza da Basso. Special rates
have been negotiated for congress
participants.
To register and for additional information, please contact us via phone
(39 055 50351), email (info@woncaeurope2006.org) or the web
(www.woncaeurope2006.org)
We surely want you to have a marvelous stay and no doubt Florence will
be able to marvel you; but we do not want for you only a beautiful show.
We would like you to go back home pleased by the certainty to have lived a
very exciting and scientifically relevant experience in being where important
topics, for general practitioners from all over Europe and the Mediterranean
area, were stated and discussed.
We strongly want Florence 2006 to become another important step for
all GPs attending, on the way toward a thriving General Practice both for
Italy and Europe. We are lucky enough to have at our disposal Leonardo’s
land: the best place to build a new Renaissance for Family Medicine.
Dr. Giorgio Visintin
Chairman, Organizing Committee
Dr. Massimo Tombesi
Chairman, Scientific Committee
Professor Igor Svab
President, Wonca Europe
Professor Chris van Weel
President-elect, Wonca World
11
WONCA
News
HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS
Albanian physician participants with Warren Heffron and Brian Jack
In general, the course demonstrated modern
teaching techniques including case-based learning, role-
play, demonstration, and competency-based learning.
There was plenty of interaction. Topics included subjects
that are less established in Albania such as mental
health, behavioral science, prevention, suturing
workshop, use of otoscope, among others. Dr. Marcel
Reyners of URC said of the course, “This was the best
training course I have attended in 18 years of such
work.”
This AAFP-CIHI course is then followed by a series of
24 teaching modules containing clinical, pedagogical,
and practice management skills taught by the faculty of
the Tirana Medical University Department of Family
Medicine. It is planned that the trained GPs from each
prefecture will then be responsible for organizing similar
training sessions for all the GPs in their prefectures.
The trainings will occur in five target prefectures that
contain about 550 commune health centers and about
1050 physicians. These areas represent about one-third
of the populations, commune health centers and
physicians.
Besides assisting with the retraining of GPs, over the
coming years, AAFP-CIHI consultants will focus on the
following additional activities:
•Assist the Department of Family Medicine at Tirana
Medical University;
•Support the formation of the new Albanian
Associations of Family Physicians; and
•Help define the Licensing, Certification and
Accreditation needs of GPs/FPs in Albania.
HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS
AAFP WORKS TO IMPROVE PRIMARY
HEALTH CARE IN ALBANIA
The American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP)
new Center for International Health Initiatives (CIHI), the
AAFP’s global initiative to foster the development of
family medicine around the world, is carrying out an
exciting project to help strengthen family medicine in
Albania. This project is carried out through a series of
consultations funded by the United States Agency for
International Development through a subcontract from
University Research Co., LLC.
An important component of the project is the
provision of family medicine training courses for
Albanian General Practitioners (GPs) who staff the
commune health centers throughout the country. These
GPs received no postgraduate training and very little
continuing medical education.
The first prefecture (district) level retraining sessions
took place in the northern prefectures of Lezhë and
Shkodër during the week of Sept 12-17 led by Drs. Don
Asp and Cal Wilson of the AAFP-CIHI. Most recently, a
second training session took place in the southeastern
prefecture of Korçë, a spectacular five hour drive
through the Balkans from Tirana, during the consultation
provided by Drs. Warren Heffron and Brian Jack during
their visit of November 11-13, 2005. The third course is
scheduled for May 2006.
Warren Heffron teaches at Albanian retraining session
WONCA
News
HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS
12
Warren Heffron, MD
Department of Family & Community Medicine
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
wheffron@salud.unm.edu
Brian Jack MD
Associate Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Family Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical
Center
brian.jack@bmc.org
Llukan Rumbullaku, MD
Department of Family Medicine
Tirana Medical University
Tirana, Albania
New Zealand’s GP’s Ageing Faster Than
Being Replenished
A stressed and diminishing general practice
workforce ageing faster than it is being replenished
paints an alarming future for primary health care in New
Zealand. It may be just five years away. Preliminary
figures from additional research being done shows more
than one-third of GPs plan to be out of general practice
before then. Ten percent cite having a family, or
following their spouse, 10 percent in general medicine,
10 percent overseas and 10 percent will retire. “Take
parallel figures on New Zealand’s population ageing,
overlay the GP figures, and we’re looking at a workforce
in crisis,” said Royal New Zealand College of General
Practitioner’s (RNZCGP) President Dr Jonathan Fox, in a
December 12, 2005 press release.
Dr Fox said other health professionals were reporting
the same disturbing trends.
“At a time we’re being asked to work smarter and
change to incorporate new strategies from the
Government, our members are reporting rising stress
levels and extra hours just to deal with the bureaucracy
and compliance demands on top of an ageing, growing
patient population.”
“We need action now,” Dr Fox said. “It takes at least
12 years to train a GP.” The Royal New Zealand College
of General Practitioners today released figures showing
the mean age of GPs has increased six years [over 14%]
in the last eight years. In 1998, it was 42, today 48.
“Thirty-seven percent of the workforce is over 50, with a
further 10 percent over 60,” Dr Fox said. The ageing
trend is accelerating. In 1998 40.8 percent of GPs were
under 40, this year just 18.7 percent are under 40.
“That’s 71 percent of GPs aged 41 to 60.”
This release is the first of four thematic papers,
presenting the findings of the 2005 survey. This
particular paper focuses on the demographics and
working arrangements of the College’s GP membership.
Subsequent papers in the series highlight other
significant issues affecting the GP workforce, working
conditions and remuneration, future intentions and rural
general practice.
The survey, sent to all members of the College, had
a response rate of 60 percent (2057 members), with a
margin of error of 1.35 percent at the 95 percent
confidence interval. The survey reveals a stressed and
diminishing general practice workforce ageing faster
than it is being replenished; GPs perceive themselves as
increasingly bogged down by bureaucracy and
compliance requirements.
New Zealand is already heavily reliant on Overseas
Trained Doctors, at 34 percent, well ahead of the next
comparable country, the United Kingdom at 28 percent.
“New Zealand has to compete in a global market for our
medical workforce,” Dr Fox said, “yet there are still
funding barriers against training our own graduates.” In
the last two years the College has received more than
double the number of applications for the 54 funded
places on its high-quality training programme.
Scholarships aimed at incentivising Maori and Pacific
Island doctors into general practice were stopped by
Government this year for 2006. “Maori and Pacific Island
populations suffer an increasing health risk, yet these
populations are proportionately under-represented in
the GP workforce.
Despite increasing numbers of young GPs accepting
only locum or salaried positions, 56 percent of College
members remain self-employed. “Older self-employed
GPs also work the longest hours,” Dr Fox said. On
average male GPs work 54.8 hours per week (1.4
Fulltime equivalents), with female GPs working 38.9 (.97
FTEs). GPs in the 46-65 cohort spent more time each
week in general practice, with increasing administration
and compliance time.
The Health Workforce Advisory Committee has
already recognised the significant implications of a
predominance of women in the whole medical
workforce. GP figures also follow this trend, with more
females working as locums or part-time salaried GPs.
13
WONCA
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HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS / MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
MEMBER AND
ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
Tamar Gabunia: Wonca
Global Family Doctor for
December 2005
Dr. Tamar Gabunia has been actively
involved in
the
development
of Health
Care Reform
in the
Republic of
Georgia. She,
herself, went
through the health system reform
process where she started out as an
ordinary district physician at a
polyclinic, re-trained as a family
physician for the new primary care
system, to now being an
independent senior health expert
dealing with complex reform issues
at the Ministerial level.
Sugito Wonodirekso:
Wonca Global Family
Doctor of the Month for
January 2006
Dr Sugito
Wonodirekso
is an active
general
practitioner
and an active
member of
the
Association of
Indonesian Family Physicians since
1986. He is currently holds a
number of positions. These include
Head of the Department of
Histology, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Indonesia; Secretary for
the Postgraduate Program on
Reproductive Medicine; Secretary for
the Human Reproduction Study
Group; Undergraduate Student
Counselor; Chief Editor for the
Indonesian Journal of Family
Medicine; Member of the Editorial
board of Asia Pacific Journal of
Family Medicine; Member for the
Indonesian Society of Menopause;
Chief of the Educational Division of
the Indonesian College of Family
Physicians.
Dr Wonodirekso has made
significant contributions to the
development of Family Medicine in
Indonesia. He has used every kind
of opportunity, such as symposia,
seminars, workshops and
conferences to promote the Family
Medicine Healthcare System (FMHS)
in Indonesia. More specifically, he
has helped the implementation of
FMHS in closed communities such
as Pertamedika (the health care
division of the Main Indonesia
Petroleum Company). Pertamedika
applies FMHS and has published
guidance books and leaflets on
Standard Operating Procedures in
patient management.
The population of New Zealand
is growing, ageing and becoming
more ethnically diverse. Based on
current assessment of health needs
these changes will impact directly
on primary care and the work of
general practitioners. Over 65s are
heavy users of primary care and
evidence suggests they present with
complex issues that will involve
longer consultations. “ We must
stop the numbers drain now,”
Jonathan Fox said, “or in 10 years
the problem may be insoluble.”
Dr Jonathan Fox
President, RNZCGP
communications@rnzcgp.org.nz
(Editor’s note: The full RNZCGP
report may be downloaded at http://
www.rnzcgp.org.nz/news/docs/
RNZCGP_2005_survey.pdf )
She is currently the Chief Family
Physician and Director of the
National Family Medicine Training
Center in Tbilisi. She is also a
Consultant at the National Institute
of Health and Social Affairs with
overall managerial and technical
responsibility for all family
physicians retraining programs
carried out in the country under the
supervision of National Institute of
Health. She is responsible for the
development and revision of
professional training programs in
family medicine, designing and
implementing CME programs for
family physicians and family
physician trainers.
Dr Gabunia is one of the
founders of the Georgia Family
Medicine Association and a founder
and Chair of the Georgia Family
Physician’s Trainers Association.
This Association greatly contributed
to the development of academic
foundations for Family Medicine in
Georgia. Under her guidance and
leadership, training manuals for the
re-training of PHC physicians and
assessment methodology for the
state licensing exam in Family
Medicine were developed.
Dr Gabunia is an author of the
first Georgian textbook “Family
Medicine”, which is highly valued by
training and academic bodies and is
considered as an important
achievement and milestone in the
development of the Family Medicine
training institution.
Outside the Republic of Georgia,
Dr Gabunia is an Honorary Overseas
GP tutor at the London University of
Postgraduate Medical and Dental
Education. She has also held
various consultancy posts, with the
TACIS Georgia PHC Development
Project and with the USAID/AIHA/
Mtskheta Regional Department for
Health and Social Affairs.
WONCA
News
MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
14
Dr Wonodirekso has been
prominently involved in the
implementation on Family Medicine
for undergraduate medical
education. Indonesia now has a new
curriculum which is competency
based in nature and the education
outcome is “primary care doctors
who are capable of applying FMHS
in their daily practice”. He was also
instrumental in the development of
the Indonesian Study Group on
Family Medicine, which then evolved
into the Indonesian College of
Family Medicine, and now the
Indonesian Association of Family
Physicians, which has become a
profession organization in the
country.
Dr Wonodirekso has contributed
as an author and editor of Primer of
Family Medicine Practice (published
in 2004), and this publication has
become one of main clinical
references for undergraduate
medical education. Dr Wonodirekso
has also conducted research to
evaluate the implementation of
FMHS in two major health insurance
companies in Indonesia (JAMSOSTEK
- social security insurance of labor)
and ASKES (a health insurance
company for public servants). He
conducted training on the
implementation of FMHS for primary
care providers of both insurance
companies and Pertamedika. He
conducted training for primary care
doctors in hospitals in Jakarta and
other institutions in the major cities
in Java, Sumatera, Kalimantan,
Sulawesi, and Maluku.
Dr Wonodirekso continues to
participate in various international
conferences on Family Medicine to
share and broaden his knowledge in
the implementation of FMHS with
other Wonca members. He has
written widely on Family Medicine
and concepts of good medical
practice and on the implementation
of FMHS in Indonesia. He is the
main driving force on the
implementation of FMHS in
Indonesia.
(Editor’s Note; The “Global
Family Doctor of the Month” Award
is an award to encourage
philanthropy among primary care
practitioners and to honour doctors
giving their time and expertise to
their global colleagues and their
patients. The award is given to
doctors who are recognised by their
colleagues as having contributed
significantly to the community in
which they work by way of their
practice, community involvement,
charity work or other humanitarian
acts.
Each Award winner is given a
letter of congratulations from the
Wonca CEO, an award certificate and
a complete office diagnostic set
from Welch Allyn worth
approximately $400.
Submission Requirements
include:
1.Title and Full Name of nominee.
2.Photo of nominee. The winner
and his/her photo would be
featured on Wonca’s website
www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com
3.Postal address of nominee.
4.Reasons for nomination for the
Award.
5.Brief resume or CV of the
nominee
6.Any other relevant information
that would assist Wonca in the
selection process.
Please submit nominations for
this monthly Award to Dr Alfred Loh,
CEO of Wonca at the Wonca
Secretariat via email to
admin@wonca.com.sg)
Celebrating the life of
Jack Marshall
John Robinson Marshall, known
to his friends and colleagues as
“Jack”, was a remarkable man
recognised nationally and
internationally for his contribution
to medical education. He died on
December 8, 2005 at the age of 76.
Jack graduated in medicine in
1955 at Queens University Medical
School, Belfast in 1955. He came to
Adelaide in 1958 and joined the
general practice of Keith Basheer.
At the same time he was
immediately appointed a Clinical
Assistant in the Department of
Cardiology at the Royal Adelaide
Hospital. He has retained his
association with the Hospital until a
few weeks before his death.
My contact with Jack goes back a
long way. His general practice was
directly across the road from mine
in the North Eastern suburbs of
Adelaide. However, it was through
the Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners and Wonca
that our paths really crossed. Our
relationship in Wonca really started
at its inception in 1972 in
Melbourne. My involvement as the
initial Honorary Secretary and
Treasurer, then President and then
Editor of Wonca News was mainly
concerned with governance and
administration but Jack’s great and
influential contribution was in the
areas of education and assessment.
Right from its inception Wonca
developed a system of committees
covering all the aspects of practice.
In 1979 they were consolidated into
four and Jack was appointed the
Chairman of the Education
Committee. In 1976, Wonca’s
Evaluation and Examination
Committee under the chairmanship
of Wes Fabb published the “Wonca
Handbook on Examination and
15
WONCA
News
MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
Evaluation” and Jack was one of the
four contributors. Wes and Jack then
published “The Assessment of
Clinical Competence in General
Family Practice” with all the royalties
going to Wonca.
It was at the National level that
Jack made his greatest contribution
to the Australian College and from
this, an impressive contribution to
medical education and assessment
nationally and international. For this
he was awarded Membership of the
Order of Australia in the Australia
Day’s Honours in 2002 and Life
Fellowship of the College in 2004.
In 1973 the College’s vocational
training wing, the Family Medicine
Programme-FMP – was established.
He with Wes Fabb and Michael
Heffernan were the ones who
established and developed the
educational and assessment
reputation of the Programme.
Michael and Jack were the first
National Medical Educators. Jack in
1997 was made Assistant Director of
Education with a commission to
develop resource material for the
Programme and from 1982 to 1994
he was National Director of the
Resource Department and had
oversight of FMP’s TV studio where
he produced many world class
education videos.
In 1977 he became the Director
of the College’s new educational
and assessment publication - CHECK
-Continuous Home Evaluation of
Clinical Knowledge. This publication
is internationally recognised. It is
used by some other international
colleges under arrangements and it
forms the basis world wide for
continuing education in its various
forms. The prestigious Royal Society
of Medicine, UK, has incorporated
CHECK into its own publishing
programme.
Jack’s expertise in medical
education spread beyond the
College and beyond the bounds of
Australia. From 1972 to 1994 he was
a member of the Australian and New
Zealand Association for Medical
Education-ANZME. He was on the
Executive from 1982 to 1988 and
President from 1986 to 1988. In 1991
he was awarded the ANZEME Award
for Achievement in Medical
Education.
Through consultations, often on
behalf of the World Health
Organization, Jack supported family
medicine development throughout
the world, including in Canada, the
United States, Korea, Japan,
Myanmar, China, Sri Lanka and
Malaysia.
Jack’s great love in his life when
not producing educational material
was his children, Peter, David,
Helen, Trish and Fiona, and
grandchildren.
David A Game AO
dgame@healthon-net.com
In Memoriam: Dr H Shigemoto
A dear friend, a great man for
international family practice has
died. Sadly, Dr. Hirosada Shigemoto
was hit by a car and killed on
November 16, 2005 when bicycling
home from his clinic. He was 73
years old.
Many of us have a vision on
what family practice should be, and
we all do our best to help develop
our profession in that direction. In
this context, some of us are lucky
enough to be at the right place at
the right time, which happened to
Dr. Shigemoto over 20 years ago, at
the meeting of the Wonca
International Classification
Committee (WICC) in Tietlingen,
Germany, where he impressed us by
his kindness, knowledge and
inquisitive mind. He understood
how essential taxonomy is for
organizing the knowledge base of a
profession, and was, moreover,
prepared to do all the painstaking
‘nitty-gritty’ work that is required to
reach a higher level of
understanding.
Japanese family practice would
never have become what it is now
without his continuous efforts. Not
only did he translate (or led the
translation process of) ICHPPC-2-
Defined, IC-Process-PC, and ICPC
into Japanese, but he has, whenever
he could, and wherever he came,
stressed, with truly unique
perseverance, the importance of
having a Japanese family practice
classification available. As a
consequence, he has guided many
young FPs into understanding this,
including Takashi Yamada, the
present Japanese representative in
WICC, who has done the first
morbidity study with ICPC in Japan.
It was quite clear at the Kyoto
Wonca Conference in May 2005,
how sincerely proud he was of his
Japanese colleagues, who have been
doing such a great job using ICPC
and developing true family practice
care in Japan. I was so happy when
Dr. Shigemoto, after my plenary on
the international use of ICPC, came
up to me and expressed how
thrilled he was about the prominent
inclusion of Japanese data in the
international comparison.
I loved him dearly because he
was a sweet man and a wise man, a
true bridge between East and West,
and I send my sincere condolences
to his wife, Mitsuyo, to his
colleagues, especially those in the
Japanese Classification Committee,
and to Dr. Takashi Yamada.
Inge, my wife, and I will never
forget the way in which
Dr. Shigemoto honoured us in 1995
by conducting a tea ceremony in
Okayama, and the meticulous and
16
WONCA
News
RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
WHO REPORT CALLS FOR GREATER
GLOBAL FOCUS ON CHRONIC DISEASES
Chronic diseases kill about 17 million people
worldwide each year, most of them in developing
countries, according to a recent World Health
Organization report, “Preventing Chronic Disease: A Vital
Investment”. Chronic disease will claim more than 350
million lives in the next 10 years, and cause millions
more to suffer. Yet, the global community is not
responding to the need for urgent action.
The WHO Report projected grave economic
consequences unless the international community
places greater emphasis on chronic disease prevention
and control. For example, China, India and the Russian
Federation could forgo billions of dollars in national
income in the next 10 years as a result of heart disease,
stroke, cancer and diabetes. The estimated accumulated
losses are $558 billion to China, $236 billion to India
and $303 billion to the Russian Federation.
“This is a very serious situation, both for public
health and for the societies and economies affected,”
said WHO Director-General Jong Wook Lee, MD, MPH.
“The cost of inaction is clear and unacceptable. Is is
vital that countries review and implement the health
actions we know will reduce premature death from
chronic disease”. The WHO report proposed reducing
the projected tread of chronic disease death rates by 2
percent each year through 2015.
The majority of chronic disease cases are caused by
a small number of “know and preventable risk factors”,
according to the WHO report, including unhealthy
disease, physical inactivity and tobacco use. Globally,
such risk factors are rising as more people consume
diets high in fats and sugars while their work and living
conditions are becoming more sedentary.
The WHO Report proposes a number of solutions.
These include using patient information systems to
coordinate long term care, training primary health care
workers in chronic disease management and supporting
patient self-management of chronic diseases.
The WHO report is available at www.who.int/chp/
chronic_disease_report./en
Online Educational Resources on
Tobacco
The following links to informative tobacco websites
have been provided by the Wonca Special Interest
Group on Health Behaviour Change:
Code of Practice on Tobacco Control for Health
Professional Organizations
http://www.who.int/tobacco/events/30jan_2004/en/
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
http://www.fctcnow.org
WHO Tobacco
http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/
GlobaLink
http://www.globalink.org/
elegant way in which he handled the attributes,
especially the flowers that play such an important role
in it.
In his honour, I selected three haiku on flowers from
famous Japanese poets, in the hope that their beauty
will help remember the wonderful person Dr. Shigemoto
was.
Simply trust:
Do not also the petals flutter down,
Just like that?
Issa
To pluck is a pity,
To leave is a pity,
Ah, this violet.
Naojo
Roses;
The flowers are easy to paint,
The leaves difficult.
Shiki
Henk Lamberts
Amsterdam
henk.lamberts@planet.nl
Database & Educational Base for Treatment of
Tobacco Dependence (in 11 languages)
http://www.treatobacco.net/home/home.cfm
This comprehensive site, run by the Society for
Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, features a regular
question (Ask the Experts) and an evidence-based
answer, which provides important information to family
doctors. It also has many links.
Office of the Surgeon General - Tobacco Cessation
Guideline
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco
Cochane Tobacco Addiction Reviews
http://www.update-software.com/Abstracts/
TOBACCOAbstractIndex.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/health/tobacco.htm
Global Health and Environment Monitor
http://www.ceche.org/mol
Society of Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
http://www.srnt.org
National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health Program
(Canadian)
http://www.ncth.ca/NCTHweb.nsf
National Cancer Institute - Tobacco Control Research
Branch (US)
http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/tcrb
Tobacco Control Resource Centre USA
http://www.tobacco-control.org
WHO Tobacco Free Initiative
http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/
http://www.paho.org/
Project.asp?SEL=TP&LNG=ENG&ID=517
Pan American Health Organization
http://www.afro.who.int/tfi/index.html Africa
http://www.emro.who.int/tfi/tfi.htm Eastern
Mediterranean
http://www.euro.who.int/tobaccofree Europe
http://w3.whosea.org/EN/Section1174/section1462/
default.asp South-East Asia
http://www.wpro.who.int/sites/tfi/overview.htm Western
Pacific Region
Action on Smoking and Health
http://www.ash.org (USA)
http://www.ash.org.uk (UK)
http://www.ashaust.org.au (Australia)
http://www.ash.org.nz (NewZealand)
Tobacco Free Kids
https://secure.tobaccofreekids.org/
Doctors and Tobacco-Tobacco Resource Control Center
http://www.tobacco-control.org/
Professor Rick Botelho
Convenor, SIG on Health Behavior Change
Rick_Botelho@URMC.Rochester.edu
17
WONCA
News
RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
WONCA
News
CONFERENCES 2006 – 2011
18
WONCA CONFERENCES 2006 – 2011 AT A GLANCE
See Wonca Website www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com for upates
2006
Region
Venue
Theme
27 – 30 Aug
European
Florence
ITALY
Towards Medical Renaissance:
Regional Conference
Bridging the Gap Between Biology
and the Humanities
8 – 15 Sept
7th Rural
Seattle
Transforming Rural Practice
Health
Washington
Through Education
Conference
USA
11 – 14 Oct
Iberoamericana -
Buenos Aires
Pursuing Equity and Efficiency in
CIMF Regional
ARGENTINA
Healthcare: the Role of the Family Doctor
Conference
5 – 9 Nov
Asia Pacific
Bangkok
THAILAND
Happy and Healthy Family
Regional Conference
2007
24 – 27 July
18th WONCA
SINGAPORE
Genomics and Family Medicine
World Conference
17 – 21 Oct
European
Paris
Re-Thinking Primary Care in the European
Regional
FRANCE
Context: A New Challenge for General
Conference
Practice
2008
1 – 5 Oct
Asia Pacific
Melbourne
Theme to be confirmed
Regional
AUSTRALIA
Conference
2009
5 – 8 June
Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
Building Bridges
Regional
Conference
2010
26 – 30 May
19
th
WONCA
Cancun
Millennium Development Goals:
World Conference
MEXICO
The Contribution of Family Medicine
2011
February 2011
Asia Pacific
Cebu
Paradigms of Family Medicine:
Regional
PHILIPPINES
Bridging Old Traditions with
Conference
New Concepts
Information correct as of January 2006.
May be subject to change.
19
WONCA
News
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
WONCA WORLD AND REGIONAL
CONFERENCE CALENDAR
Wonca Europe Regional Conference, Florence 2006
Host:CSERMEG
Theme:Towards Medical Renaissance
Date:27-30 August, 2006
Venue:Florence, Italy
Contact:OICsrl
Viale Matteotti 7
50121 Florence, Italy
Tel:+39 0555 0351
Fax:+39 0555 001912
Email:wonca2006@oic.it
Web:http://www.woncaeurope2006.org
Wonca 7th Rural Health Conference, Seattle-Anchorage
2006
Host:Wonca Rural Health Working Party
Theme:Transforming Rural Practice Through Education
Date:8-15 September, 2006
Venue:8 -10 September – Wonca Rural Conference
University of Washington campus
11-13 September, 34th Annual Advances in
Family Practice
University of Washington campus
13-15 September, Post Conference
Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge
Anchorage, Alaska
Contact:Tom E Norris, MD
Chair, Host Organizing Committee
Department of Family Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
Box 356390
Seattle, WA 98195-6390, USA
Fax:206-543-3101
Email:tnorris@u.washington.edu
Web:http://www.ruralwonca2006.org/
Wonca Iberoamericana-CIMF Region, Buenos Aires, 2006
Host:Federacion Argentina De Medicina Familiar y
General
Theme:Pursing Equity and Efficiency in Healthcare:
The Role of the Family Doctor
Date:11-15 October, 2006
Venue:Sheraton Hotel, Buenos Aires
Contact:Federacion Argentina De Medicina Familiar y
General
Tel:54 11 4958 5079
Email:famfyg@aamf.org.ar
Web:www.famfyg.org.ar
15th Wonca Asia Pacific Regional Conference, Bangkok
2006
Host:General Practitioners/Family Physicians
Association of Thailand
College of Family Physicians of Thailand
Theme:Happy and Healthy Family
Date:5-9 November, 2006
Venue:The Royal Golden Jubilee Building
Contact:Dr Kachit Choopanya, Chairman, Host
Organizing Committee
11th Floor, Royal Golden Jubilee Building
2 Soi Soonvijai, New Petchaburi Road
Bangkok, Thailand 10320
Tel:66(0) 2716 6651
Fax:66(0) 2716 6653
Web:www.wonca2006.org
18th Wonca World Conference, Singapore 2007
Host:College of Family Physicians, Singapore
Theme:Genomics and Family Medicine
Date:24-27 July, 2007
Venue:Singapore International Convention and
Exhibition Centre
Contact:Dr Tan See Leng, Chairman,
Host Organizing Committee
College of Family Physicians, Singapore
College of Medicine Building
16 College Road #01-02
Singapore 169854
Tel:65 6223 0606
Fax:65 6222 0204
Email:contact@cfps.org.sg
Web:www.wonca2007.com
20
WONCA
News
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
Wonca Europe Regional Conference, Paris, 2007
Host:French National College of Teachers in General
Practice
Theme:Rethinking Primary Care in the European
Context
Date:17-21 October, 2007
Venue:Palais des Congres
Paris, France
Contact:French National College of Teachers in General
Practice
6 rue des Deux Communes
94300 Vincennes, France
Tel:33-153 669 180
Emailcnge@cnge.fr
Web:www.cnge.fr
19th Wonca World Conference, Cancun 2010
Host:Mexican College of Family Medicine
Theme:Millennium Develop Goals:
The Contribution of Family Medicine
Date:26-30 May, 2010
Venue:Cancun Conventions and Exhibition Center,
Cancun Mexico
Contact:Mexican College of Family Medicine
Anahuac #60
Colonia Roma Sur
06760 Mexico, D.F.
Tel:52-55 5574
Fax:52-55 5387
Email:javier.dominguez@unfpa.org.mx
MEMBER ORGANIZATION AND RELATED MEETINGS
8
°
Congresso de Medicina de Família e Comunidade (8th
Brazilian Meeting of Family and Community Medicine),
Sao Paulo 2006
Theme:Comprehensive Health Care in Brazil: The
Contribution of Family and Community
Medicine - Making Medical Practice More
Relevant to People’s Needs
Host:Brazilian Society of Family and Community
Medicine
Date:15-18 June 2006
Venue:São Paulo, Brazil
Host:Brazilian Society of Family and Community
Medicine
Contact:Rua Marquês de Itu, 408 Cj 34/35
Vila Buarque
São Paulo - SP
Brazil - Cep: 01223-000
Phone:55 11 83636868
Fax:55 11 33613089
Email:sbmfc@sbmfc.org.br
Web:www.sbmfc.org.br/congresso2006
13th World Conference on Smoking or Health,
Washington, DC 2006
Theme:Building Capacity for a Tobacco-Free World
Date:12-15 July, 2006
Venue:Renaissance DC Hotel
Washington, D.C., USA
Contact:John Seffrin, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
American Cancer Society
Email:secretariat2006@cancer.org
Web:http://www.2006conferences.org/
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Annual Scientific Assembly, Washington, DC 2006
Date:27 Sept - 1 October, 2006
Venue:Washington DC Convention Center
Contact:AAFP
11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway
Leawood, Kansas 66211-2672, USA
Tel:1 913 906 6000
Fax:1 913 906 6075
Email: international@aafp.org
Web:http://www.aafp.org
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
48th Annual Scientific Conference, Brisbane 2006
Date:5-8 Oct, 2006
Theme:Be the Future
Venue:Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Contact:Michaela Fox
Email:michaela.fox@racgp.org.au
Web:http://www.racgp.org.au/asc2006/
International Society for Quality in Health Care
23rd International Conference, London 2006
Date:22-25 October, 2006
Venue:London, United Kingdom
Contact:ISQua Secretariat
212 Clarendon Street
East Melbourne 3002 AUSTRALIA
Phone: +61 3 9417 6971 ..
Fax: +61 3 9417 6851
Email:isqua@isqua.org
Web: http://www.isqua.org
WONCA
News
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
21
15
th
Wonca Asia Pacific Regional Conference
Happy and Healthy Family
5-9 November 2006
Venue: The Royal Golden Jubilee Building
Bangkok, Thailand
Email admin@wonca2006.org
Website www.wonca2006.org
Tel: 662 716 6651 -3 Fax: 662 716 6653
College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)
Family Medicine Forum, Manitoba 2006
Date: November 2 - 4, 2006
Venue:Quebec City Convention Centre
Quebec City, Quebec
Contact:Joanne Langevin; Meetings Manager
Cheryl Selig, Registration Coordinator
2630 Skymark Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4W 5A4
Tel:(905) 629-0900 / 1-800-387-6197
Fax:(905) 629-0893
Email:info@cfpc.ca
Web:www.cfpc.ca
