Wonca News August 2008 Edition

Volume 34

Number 4

August 2008

Contents

World organization of Family Doctors

www.globalFamilyDoctor.com

Wonca President

Professor Chris van Weel

Department of Family Medicine,

117 HAG

University Medical Centre Nijmegen

PO Box 9101

6500 HB Nijmegen

The Netherlands

Tel 31 24 361 6332

Fax 31 24 354 1862

Email C.vanWeel@hag.umcn.nl

Wonca Chief executive officer

Dr Alfred W T Loh

Wonca World secretariat

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

Richard G Roberts, MD, JD, USA

Immediate Past President

Professor Bruce L W Sparks, South Africa

Honorary treasurer

Professor Michael Kidd, Australia

executive members at large

Dr Javier Dominguez del Olmo, Mexico

Dr Iona Heath, United Kingdom

Professor Michael Kidd, Australia

Regional Presidents

Wonca Africa

Professor Khaya Mfenyana, South Africa

Wonca Asia Pacific

Dr Donald K T Li, Hong Kong

Wonca europe

Professor Igor Svab, Slovenia

Wonca Iberoamericana - CImF

Professor Adolfo Rubinstein, Argentina

Wonca middle east south Asia

Dr Preethi Wijegoonewardene, Sri Lanka

Wonca North America

Dr Alain Montegut, USA

Wonca eastern mediterranean

Dr Nabil Kurashi - President Protem

Saudi Arabia

Chair, Bylaws & Regulations Committee

Dan Ostergaard MD, USA

Chair, Wonca Publications and

Communications Committee

Dr Geoffrey D Martin, Australia

editor, Wonca News & editorial office

Marc L Rivo, MD, MPH

4566 Prairie Avenue

Miami Beach, FL 33140, USA

Tel 1 305-671-7327

Fax 1 305-674-8839

Email marcrivo@aol.com

Wonca Global Sponsors

From the Wonca President :

Gaining a Better Understanding of

Primary Care Effectiveness

From the Ceo’s Desk :

Join Wonca in the "15 By 2015 Campaign" 3

as a Signatory

From the editor :

Promoting Quality Family Medicine

Practice, Education and Research

Feature Stories

• Wonca and World Psychiatric Association Host Joint Conference in Spain

• Transition in the Wonca International Classification Committee

Wonca Regional News

• Wonca Asia Pacific Region Co-Hosts Train-The-Trainer Programe

• Wonca Europe Region Meets in Istanbul September 4-7

• Asia Pacific Region Meets in Melbourne October 1-5

Health AND Health System News

• "15 by 2015" Campaign Gaining Momentum

Member AND Organization News

• Wonca Asia Pacific Region Meets With Vietnam's Ministry of Health

• Raheem Dhanani Named Family Medicine Chair at Aga

Khan University - East Africa

Resources For The Family Doctor

• Mental Health in Family Medicine

• Integrating Mental Health Services into Primary Health Care

Wonca Conference 2008-2013 At A Glance

Global Meeting For The Family Doctor

From The Wonca President :

Gaining A Better Understanding Of

Primary Caress Effectiveness

Health services delivered through a primary care

organized structure of health care are more efficient,

cost effective and safe. Effective primary care leadership

in health systems is of utmost importance for the health

of people, and primary care advocacy is, and will remain,

in the core of Wonca’s mission. This is the essence of

the “15 by 2015” campaign, of which you find further

updates elsewhere in this issue.

Primary care leadership acknowledges that family

doctors can care for most people’s common health

problems most of the time. Effective support and guidance

of family doctors, and other members of the primary

care team for the most common health problems are at

the centre of primary care development, research and

education. Yet, the diagnosis, prevention and treatment

of common primary care health problems has only fairly

recently been included in Wonca’s global activities. With

the involvement of Wonca in chronic respiratory diseases,

and the recent establishment of Wonca’s mental health

working party, we are making up for this omission. As

reported in this issue, the upcoming WHO-Wonca actions

to bring mental health in the mainstream of health care,

as well as the continuing global adoption of Wonca’s

International Classification of Primary Care are important

developments in this area.

Securing Primary Care’s Central Role

The centrality of primary care mediated health care

has become an accepted fact of life for health care policy

makers around the world – at least for the foreseeable

future. However, why primary care has this impact, and

why family physician-led health care is correlated with

better life expectancy, earlier diagnoses and other positive

indicators of population health, is poorly understood.

To secure primary care’s continued relevance, it would

be insufficient to accept its effectiveness as a ‘black

box’. Advocates cite many hypotheses based on the

core values of primary care, including our generalist

approach, integration of the physical, psychological and

social aspects of health, continuity of care, person-centred

care and care in the context of the family and social

environment. But unless their importance and impact are

better conceptualized, qualified and quantified in relation

to the outcomes of prevention, diagnosis and treatment,

Wonca

News

From The Wonca President

a tangible risk exists that the call for primary care may

run its course for health policy makers.

Methodology AND Research

Infrastructure

To better understand what is happening at the

encounter between patient and family doctor requires a

descriptive methodology. It requires heath care informatics

beyond diagnosis and intervention, the traditional core

elements of health care data. With its’ methodological

structure, the International Classification of Primary Care

(ICPC) has opened the way to bring this comprehensive

information together. ICPC is finding its way to family

practice informatics systems around the world. This

development will potentially provide the highly needed

data. It is essential, though, that ICPC is made compatible

with at least two other international classifications

– WHO’s ICD and SNOMED. From this, it is essential that

ICPC be further developed from a conceptual framework

to a true comprehensive classification (ICPC-3), with well-

defined categories in all its chapters and components.

This is a Wonca priority, and the agenda of the Wonca

International Classification Committee, as reported in this

issue. In addition, ICPC-3 development is supported with

a growing investment in research capacity building by the

Working Party on Research.

Continued development of our primary care research

infrastructure at the local, national and international

arena is another key element to secure primary care’s

centrality and relevance. As reported in the June issue of

Wonca News, this year saw major research conferences

conducted in Wonca’s Ibero-Americana and Asia-Pacific

regions to promote the 2003 Kingston Conference

recommendations for primary care research.

But research infrastructure and methodology are

only enabling factors. It is essential that Wonca and its

member organizations are concerning themselves in detail

with the outcome of health problems under primary care

conditions.

Mental Health Problems, Wonca-WPA AND

Wonca-WHo

Mental health problems have played an important

role in the maturation of our discipline as this domain

exemplifies the need to personalize care and integrate

the physical/somatic and the psychological determinants

of health and illness. As a model to explore the how

and why of primary care, the activities of the Working

Wonca

News

From The Wonca President / From The Ceo’s Desk

From The Ceo’s Desk:

Join Wonca In The “15 BY 2015 Campaign As A

Signatory

As early as the year 1953, the Executive Board of the World Health

Organization (WHO) stated, “assistance in the health field should be designed

primarily to strengthen the basic health service of the country and to meet

the most urgent problems affecting large sections of the population.”

In 1978, in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, in the former Soviet Union, representatives

of 134 countries came together under WHO and the United Nations Children’s

Fund to initiate the program “Health for All by the Year 2000.” Despite

some improvements in health, the goals set in 1978 were not met through

the first two decades of action, at least with regard to establishing primary

care services in most countries, especially those considered economically

developing. In 2006, the WHO’s World Health Report stated that adequate

treatment of chronic diseases required a shift towards community-based and

patient-centred paradigms of care, which are key components of a broad-

based, primary care oriented health

system.

In recent years, we have seen

an unprecedented increase in

financial aid to improve health care

in developing countries. Such health

care funding increased an estimated

26% between 1997 and 2002, from

$6.4 billion to $8.1 billion. While the

magnitude of such an investment

is a positive development, the vast

majority of aid has been allocated

towards disease-specific projects

(termed ‘vertical programming’)

rather than towards more broad-

based improvements in population

health, such as preventive measures,

primary care services, and health

workforce development (termed

‘horizontal programming’).

Currently, under-funded primary

healthcare providers in developing

countries have scarce resources to

build systems that respond to the

needs of patients and communities.

There is a need for integration of

vertical programmes into local health

facilities to achieve sustainable

disease control. Integrating curative

and preventive care in particular

has merits, such as the potential to

detect a patient with tuberculosis

among those patients who present

with respiratory symptoms, or offering

vaccination to patients with whom

the primary care practitioner has

established a trusting relationship.

Integration overcomes vertical

programmes’ narrow focus on only

a fraction of the care needed by the

person, family or population.

Today, a need exists for a new

global strategy to achieve a synergy

among person, community and

disease-focused approaches. To

achieve this, the World Organisation

of Family Doctors (Wonca), in

collaboration with Global Health

through Education, Training and

Service (GHETS), with The Network:

Towards Unity for Health, (The

Network: TUFH), and the European

Party on Mental Health, under Dr Gabriel (Gabby) Ivbijaro’s leadership, are

particularly encouraging. The Working Party’s close collaboration, on behalf

of Wonca, with the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and the World Health

Organization (WHO) are worth special mention. The Wonca-WPA collaboration

has resulted in a number of activities in the past 12 months culminating in

a joint international conference on mental health problems in primary care,

Granada, Spain this past June. The Work Party’s partnership with the WHO

has resulted a renewed focus on mental health and primary care in the WHO,

including the publication of a new journal of that name. Both these important

developments are reported in this issue of Wonca News.

Collaborative work with other specialties is crucial for the future position

of family medicine. In this regard, the effective Wonca-WPA partnership on

mental health and primary care is a worth recognizing. I would like to offer

a special word of thanks to the WPA president, Professor Juan Mezzich,

who promoted our partnership during his term of office that will end in

September.

The mental health activities of the Working Party make it possible for

Wonca in collaboration with WHO, to launch In October an action plan

to integrate mental health in the main stream of medical care. This is a

significant step in further promoting a health care system that is responsive

to patients’ and peoples’ needs. It provides at the same time opportunities

to gain more insight in how an integrated approach to health problems,

based on a personal doctor-patient relation over time, positively impacts the

outcome of care. Improving the health of people around the world remains

Wonca’s prime mission. However, we should add to that mission every effort

to understand the mechanisms of the effectiveness of primary care. Only that

knowledge will help us further improve our caring for people’s health.

Professor Chris van Weel

President of Wonca

From The Editor:

Promoting Quality

Family Medicine

Practice, Educations

AND Research

Family Medicine and the family

doctor play a central role in health

systems by providing relevant, quality

and affordable health care services to

meet people’s common health needs.

Promoting excellence in practice,

education and research is at the core

of Wonca’s mission. This issue of

Wonca News highlights key examples

in which Wonca seeks to enhance the

role of the family doctor.

In his President’s Column,

Professor Chris van Weel describes

the strategic importance of enhancing

family medicine research and the

important role of Wonca’s clinically

oriented working groups, such as the

Working Party on Mental Health and

Wonca’s International Classification

Committee. Feature stories provide

an inspiring summary of our

clinical working groups’ important

contributions to Wonca’s mission, and

cite those family doctors who have

played a key leadership role.

In his CEO’s Column, Dr Alfred Loh

describes the critical “15 by 2015”

global campaign to request donor

organizations to allocate 15% of their

disease-specific funding to strengthen

primary health care services that

can most effectively and efficiently

deliver the comprehensive care

needed to improve people’s health.

A companion feature story describes

how readers can personally lend their

support to this vital campaign.

This issue of Wonca News also

describes some of the important

partners that share Wonca’s mission

to care for all people, beginning

with our Wonca national member

organizations, Regions and working

groups. This issue also acknowledges

some of our key global partners such

as the Network Towards Unity for

Health, the Global Health through

Education Training and Service, the

European Forum for Primary Care, the

World Psychiatry Association, and the

World Health Organization.

Wonca’s Committee’s, Working

Parties, Special Interest Groups

and Task Forces, as well as our 119

member organizations and more

than 2000 direct members are most

welcome to send me examples of

how you promote practice, education

and research and, thereby, enhance

the role of the family doctor in health

systems. Today we family doctors

are blessed to find many relevant

resources through Wonca and our

GlobalFamilyDoctor.com website to

enhance our value in health systems

throughout the world. I hope that

you recognize and take pride in

Wonca’s commitment to promote

quality family medicine practice,

education and research throughout

the world, and encourage other

family doctors to join and contribute

to Wonca’s mission.

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

From The Ceo’s Desk / From The Editor

Forum for Primary Care (EFPC),

call upon the new International

Health Partnership and other funding

organisations, such as the Global

Fund, the World Bank, the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation, and the

World Health Organization, to assign

primary health care a pivotal role

in the provision of their activities

and to support its development in a

systematic way.

To this end, Wonca together

with our partner organizations have

proposed that by the year 2015,

15% of the budgets of vertical

disease-oriented programmes be

invested in horizontal programming

that builds and strengthens well-

coordinated, integrated, local primary

healthcare systems and that this

percentage would increase over

time. Such an investment would

improve the capacity of developing

nations to address the majority of

health problems through a generic,

well structured, and comprehensive

primary care system. This so-called

“15 by 2015” campaign is a world-

wide initiative calling for all major

global health donors to allocate

15% of all their grants towards

strengthening the primary health care

system of the country in which they

are working.

If you believe in the need for this

new approach to improving global

health, then join us by becoming

a signatory to this “15 By 2015”

Campaign. You can also help by

disseminating this appeal to all the

members in your organisation, as

well as your friends and colleagues.

Please go to the Wonca Website

(www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com) and

click the link on the homepage

entitled “15 By 2015 Campaign”

Dr Alfred loh

Chief Executive Officer

World Organization of Family

Doctors

Feature Stories

Wonca and The

World Psychiatric

Association Host Joint

Conference In Spain

The World Psychiatric Association

(WPA) and Wonca held a joint primary

care mental health conference in

Granada, Spain from 19-21 June 2008.

This thematic conference aimed to

bring together primary and secondary

care aspects of mental health and

specifically focused on depression

and other common primary care

mental health disorders. More

than 1000 participants attended,

representing a variety of countries

worldwide, the majority from primary

care or primary care psychiatry. The

Wonca Working Party on Mental

Health, in conjunction with Wonca

Europe, actively participated in

and supported this project. Wonca

and the WPA also held a number

of joint presentations during the

conference.

The Wonca Working Party on

Mental Health is committed to

supporting local general practitioners

to attend and contribute to such

conferences. On this occasion a

member of our Working Party, Dr Juan

Mendive, held in Spanish a workshop

entitled ‘Emotional Discomfort in

Primary Care’. This workshop proved

to be very popular and was attended

by general practitioners, psychiatrists

and clinical psychologists mostly

from Spain. Feedback from the

workshop was very positive. We hope

that other members of the Wonca

Working Party on Mental Health will

volunteer their services during future

conferences in order to further our

objectives of improving skills in

the recognition and management

of mental health problems in the

primary care setting.

During the WPA-Wonca Presidential

Symposium on ‘Co-morbidity and

Person-Centred Care’, WPA President

Juan Mezzich and Wonca President

Chris van Weel explored the impact

of illness co-morbidity on mental

health and the ways in which

psychiatrists and family doctors could

work together to improve patient

outcomes. During this Symposium

Professor George Christodoulou

(WPA) reminded psychiatrists of the

need for them to learn from family

doctors when dealing with issues of

co-morbidity.

Dr Gabriel Ivbijaro, Chair of the Wonca

Working Party on Mental Health exchanging

gifts with Professor Francisco Torres of the

WPA, Chair of the Conference Organising

Committee.

For a very long time, the WPA

and Wonca, especially the Wonca

Working Party on Mental Health,

have been talking about developing

a formal relationship. As a result of

the opportunities for collaboration

made possible by this conference,

we are one step closer to achieving

this objective.

Key leadership of Wonca and

the WPA attended a joint workshop

Wonca

News

Featured Stories

Research in Ambulatory Settings:

Experiences, Barriers and Solutions;

Video Teaching Conferences in

Developing Countries: Reasonable

or a Luxury; and Family Medicine

Assessment; Standards and Quality.

Each session was led by an

expert around the region and

followed by a speaker from each

participating country who highlighted

the differences and similarities in the

respective country. There were very

active interaction, exchanges and

experience sharing.

Professor Goh Lee Gan managed

to get all the participants engaged in

research, moving forward the agenda

of ReNAP (Research Network of Asia

Pacific). Collaborative research

projects and champions addressed

topics such as The Family Life

Cycle in Asia Pacific: Similarities

and Differences Across Generations;

Chronic Disease Management

Strategies and Outcomes; and

Teaching Related Research: What

GPs Need to Know.

A lavish international buffet was

arranged for the conference dinner

and certificates of appreciation as

well as souvenirs were exchanged. It

was a great night of social interaction

and networking. All participants

returned home learning something

from each other as well as having

made new friends.

We look forward to more

networking amongst academic

departments in the region to facilitate

research collaboration, with possible

exchanges of faculty and students and

sharing of resources. The possibility

of international accreditation in the

light of the forthcoming “Mutual

Recognition Agreement” in the region

will also be explored

This workshop was funded

through the generous donation

of the Royal Australian College of

General Practitioners, the Hong Kong

Wonca

News

Wonca Regional News

Wonca Asia Pacific Co-Hosts Train-the-Trainer

Program

Through the inspiration and assistance of Professor Alain Montegut,

President Wonca North American Region, A “Train the Trainer’s Workshop”

organized by the Wonca Asia Pacific Region, the University of Medicine and

Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and the Vietnam Association of Family

Physicians (VAFP) was held at the HCMC University of Medicine and Pharmacy

7-8 June 2008.

More than 80 delegates attended from Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines,

Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, and the USA, as well as from different

regions of Vietnam – Hanoi, Hue, Can Tho, Haipong, Thainguyen etc, including

a representative from the Ministry of Health of Vietnam. The Rector of HCMC

University of Medicine and Pharmacy conducted the opening ceremony for

the workshop.

The meeting objective was to provide an opportunity for WONCA Asia

Pacific member countries to share their experiences and challenges in training

Family Doctors in their own countries. This objective was achieved through

broad and positive interaction among the delegates. Successful team building

occurred amongst member organizations around the region.

Group photo of participants from Vietnam, USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia,

Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia attending the Wonca Train the Trainer’s workshop held in Ho Chi

Ming City, Vietnam June 7-8th 2008

The focus was on Vietnam as a country actively developing Family

Medicine. Discussion centered on how to train trainers to train general

practitioners / doctors / family doctors to upgrade the standards of primary

medical care through adopting the family medicine concept and model.

Subjects to enhance more advanced Family Medicine programs such as

e-learning, research in ambulatory settings, and teaching through video

conferencing were also presented by experts around the region.

Topics included: Global Health and Family Medicine in Developing

Countries; Relationship Centered Care: Why, How to Know, and How to

Teach Our Residents; E-learning in Developing Country: Now or Soon;

College of Family Physicians, Professor Alain Montegut

and the Wonca Asia Pacific Region.

Dr Donald Li

President, Wonca Asia Pacific Region

dr2318@hotmail.com

Wonca Europe Region meets in Istanbul

September 4-7

The Turkish Association of Family Physicians welcomes

you to the Wonca Europe 2008 Conference that will be

held in Istanbul, Turkey, on September 4-7, 2008. The

theme of the conference is “Overcoming the distance”

Family practice - bringing the art of medicine to the

people. Working together with National Colleges,

European Network Organizations and Special Interest

Groups we aim to come together in largest collaboration

possible also with a large number of Turkish colleagues.

Even with attendance beyond Europe, we will have the

opportunity to find out our similarities and differences

in a comprehensive scientific program.

We are very excited for this opportunity to meet

our colleagues from various countries in Istanbul, a

magnificent metropolis with a rich history. We aim to

bring together family physicians of different affiliations

like universities, hospitals or community based settings

to review basic principles of and latest evidence about

family medicine, and exchange experiences in the

framework of a rich, comprehensive scientific program.

The conference will feature sessions on the primary

health care/family medicine approach to various clinical

issues, undergraduate and postgraduate training in

family medicine, a comparative review of family practice

in different countries with different health care systems,

and basic principles of family medicine.

In Turkey, family medicine is a relatively young

discipline and much has been accomplished in its rich

history of 23 years. There is constant effort to further

develop and strengthen family medicine as a clinical and

academic discipline through our professional association

TAHUD, our Board TAHYK, our peer reviewed journals, 38

academic departments of family medicine, and our broad

community of family physicians, who work as clinicians

in hospitals and community based settings. We believe

that your participation in this conference will constitute

an important contribution to our efforts to strengthen the

discipline of family medicine and to improve quality of

primary health care in Turkey an in Europe as well.

Istanbul, at the Southeast end of geographical Europe,

where Europe meets Asia, where cultures and civilizations

meet, will be the ideal place to discuss “Overcoming

the distance”. Looking at the other continent, with

all its beauty, just a few hundred meters away, within

minutes to reach, will make us think again about how

far really “the distance” is. We will be looking at various

aspects of our discipline thoroughly, from many different

viewpoints, but to learn from each other, in order to bring

our distance as near as possible.

The challenge is ahead of us, to have a WONCA

Europe Conference with more than 4500 colleagues and

also making it a long remembered one, both with its

Scientific and Social events.

Registration is available online at

www.WoncaEurope2008.com.

We look forward to welcoming you to Istanbul.

With our kindest regards,

Assoc. Prof. Nezih Dagdeviren, MD

Erdem Birgül, MD

Co-Chairman, Host Organizing Committee

Prof. Füsun Ersoy, MD

Chair of the Scientific Committee

Asia Pacific Region meets in Melbourne

October 1-5

Family doctors, general practitioners and all those

interested in the practice of family medicine are invited

to Melbourne, Australia for the WONCA 2008 Asia Pacific

Regional Conference which is being combined with The

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)

51st Annual Scientific Convention (ASC) on 1–5 October

2008.

Our conference theme, ‘A celebration of diversity’

explores the wide ranging, all encompassing nature of

the way our profession provides primary care to our

patients, and supports health care in our communities

and nations.

The Scientific Program will feature several renowned

national and international speakers and includes the world

and regional presidents of Wonca. The presentations will

comprise a mix of expert plenary lectures, workshops,

paper and poster sessions, all of which will address the

conference theme of “a celebration of diversity”. Topics

will include updates in clinical care, developments in

medical education, health service delivery, primary care

in challenging environments, general practice research,

Wonca

News

Wonca Regional News

Health and Health System News

“15 BY 2015” Campaign Gaining

Momentum

The “15by2015”-campaign launched by WONCA, the

Network Towards Unity for Health, Global Health through

Education Training and Service and the European Forum

for Primary Care is gaining momentum.

The campaign, described in an editorial in the

March 8th issue of the British Medical Journal (see

BMJ 2008;336:518-19), has been presented at different

conferences. At the Global Health Forum in Geneva on May

26th 2008, Jan De Maeseneer highlighted the campaign

in the plenary session on “The Role of Clinicians in

Primary Care” to the campaign. The presentation elicited

a lot of positive responses by the participants. At the

“Global Health Council” meeting in Washington, DC,

David Egilman (GHETS) chaired four round table sessions

on “15by2015”. Fernando Mora (Mexico,GHETS) and

Jan De Maeseneer (University of Ghent, Belgium) were

also present. On Friday 30th at the plenary session

on “Primary Health Care in the Fourth Decade” the

campaign was mentioned by Jan De Maeseneer in his

contribution and supported twice by interventions from

the audience by David Egilman. Moreover, 500 documents

were distributed to the participants. You can watch the

session on: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/

player.cfm?id=4060

Professor Jan De Maeseneer with Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-

General, at the Global Health Council meeting in Washington, DC on

May 30, 2008

At the conference, Jan De Maeseneer exchanged ideas

on primary health care and the “15 by 2015” campaign

with Dr Margaret Chan, Director General of the World

Wonca

News

Wonca Regional News / Health and Health System News

and the social and cultural contexts of family medicine.

Overseas visitors will have an opportunity to learn about

family medicine in Australia, while Australians will learn

from a diversity of international experiences.

At this year’s WONCA Asia Pacific Regional Conference,

there will be a photo competition encouraging you to

share your insight into the diverse nature of general

practice/family medicine. The theme of the competition is

‘diversity’ and entry to this competition is free! The only

limit is your imagination and interpretation of our theme

and categories. For further information and guidelines

please visit www.wonca2008.com/photog.php

Come to the multicultural city of Melbourne and

experience a high quality professional program in first

class conference facilities, and the world-class attractions

of this city. Cosmopolitan Melbourne offers a unique mix

of international cultures, reflected in the diversity of food,

cultures and lifestyles and promises an unforgettable

conference experience.

Forever known as the “Garden City” owing to its

picturesque botanic gardens and parks, Melbourne now

claims the privilege of being the “the world’s most livable

city”. Melbourne is renowned for its festivals and sporting

events, staging an exciting variety of entertainment each

year including the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, the

Australian Open Tennis, the Melbourne Food and Wine

Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival,

the Melbourne Film Festival, the Boxing Day Test Cricket,

the AFL Grand Final, the Heineken Golf Classic, and the

Spring Racing Carnival.

The RACGP and WONCA looks forward to welcoming you

to Melbourne in 2008.

Professor Michael Kidd

Dr Vasantha Preetham

Co-Covenor

Associate Professor Peter Schattner

Chair, Scientific Program Committee

In the meantime, it will also be important that

national and international stakeholders are informed

about the campaign and the underlying ideas. For

example, in Belgium, a letter was sent to the Minister

of Developmental Cooperation, Mr. Charles Michel, who

answered quite positively, “15by2015” is an ambitious,

laudable and important initiative. Therefore, I asked my

department to explore how the actions of the Belgian

developmental cooperation in relation to health care,

may find inspiration by this campaign, taking into

account the existing commitments, budgetary constraints

and global strategy. I wish you all the best with your

further activities.” It is important that the campaign will

be mentioned at the WHO, G-8 Summit, the European

Union and other key international forums of key global

organizations.

There are positive signals. For example, at a 29th -

30th May 2008 meeting at WHO Headquarters in Geneva,

an expert consultation was organised on “Maximising

Positive Synergies Between Health Systems and Global

Health Initiatives”. It was recognised at this meeting that

primary health care could act as a unifying framework

and that exploiting positive synergies could be a catalyst

for the renewal of primary health care.

The “15by2015” campaign is an opportunity of all

Wonca members to demonstrate their commitment to

equity and to the international development of primary

health care and family medicine.

Health Organization, who was quite well informed

about the “15 by 20015” campaign, and who had met

previously in Geneva with an Executive Delegation of

Wonca. At the conference, the idea was launched to

develop a “Health Systems Impact Assessment” in order

to evaluate the impact of certain measures (e.g. by

vertical donor-organisations) on the health system. The

task force is now working on this document (for further

information, contact: email: swancitos@gmail.com).

On the 2nd June, the “15 by 2015” campaign was

mentioned by Jan De Maeseneer in his contribution on

“Intersectoral Action for Health” at the conference of

the Canadian Public Health Association in Halifax. On

the 23th of July, a workshop of the European Forum for

Primary Care in Budapest was also informed about the

campaign.

At the fourth international conference on primary

health care/ family health, organised by the Ministry

of Health of Brazil, the campaign was brought under

the attention of the participants in the contribution

“Primary health care in a changing society”, by Jan De

Maeseneer who mentioned also the fact that Brazil has

bought the licence for the use of ICPC-2, another Wonca

achievement.

In the meantime, Wonca President Professor Chris van

Weel and CEO Dr. Alfred Loh, wrote a letter to stimulate

local Wonca members, colleges, academies, academic

institutions and others to inform the membership

about the campaign, to motivate them to sign (see

CEO Column in this issue). Also Wonca’s “Journal Alerts”

(www.globalfamilydoctor.com) mention regularly the

campaign.

This has not been without impact on the “15 by

2015” campaign signature list: on the 29th of July 2008,

at the website www.15by2015.org exactly 832 signatures

were counted. The top five contributing countries are

Switzerland (206), United States of America (117), Italy

(99), Belgium (34), Canada and the United Kingdom (28).

The impact of the campaign is illustrated by the fact that

electronic signatures already exist from 80 countries.

Wonca

News

Health and Health System News

Member and

Organizational News

Wonca Asia Pacific

meets with Vietnam's

Ministry of Health

Through the kind introduction

of Prof. Alain Montegut connecting

me with Prof. Nguyen Thi Kim Chuc

of Hanoi Medical University, I led

a delegation to pay a courtesy

visit to meet the rector and Family

Medicine trainers of Hanoi University

as well as officials of the Hanoi

Ministry of Health to discuss

and share experience on Family

Medicine education, training and

primary healthcare in the Indochina

peninsula.

The delegation consisted of

myself, Prof. Alain Montegut, President

of Wonca North American Region, Dr

Daniel M Thuraiappah, Vice President

of Wonca Asia Pacific Region, Dr

Sheikh Amin (from Malaysia), Prof.

Sugito Wonodirekso (President of

Kolej Doktor Indonesia) and Prof.

Dr. Nugroho Wiyadi (from Indonesia),

and Dr. Gene Tsoi, (Chairman of

Vocational Training and Standards

of Hong Kong College of Family

Physicians).

Dr Donald Li and Professor Goran Tomson,

Professor of International Health Systems

and Policy Research from Sweden, invited

speakers to the 2nd ASEAN Symposium on

Access to Healthcare in Hanoi 5-6th June

2008

Wonca

News

Member and Organization News

On 5th June we held discussions

at Hanoi Medical University and

discussed Family Medicine (FM)

curriculum in the medical school,

improving capacity of FM lectureship,

developing curriculum for a Master’s

program in FM, setting up FM clinics

in Hanoi as well as gaining support

from the Ministry of Health.

I had the opportunity to meet with

the Honorary Vice Minister of Health

Madam Professor Nguyen Thi Kim Tien,

Member of Parliament the afternoon

before our scheduled meeting at the

Ministry on 6th June 2008 as we

were both participants and speakers

at the 2nd ASEAN Symposium on

Access to Healthcare organized by

Business Week and hosted by Phillips

Healthcare International. Professor

Tien gave a keynote address as

well as discussed private–public co-

operatives in healthcare systems.

I spoke on Healthcare Reform:

Affordability, Prevention and Healthy

Behavior.

Wonca Delegation at Vietnam Ministry of

Health to meet Professor Nguyen Thi Kim

TIEN, Vice Minister of Health and Member of

Parliment (from right to left): Dr Thuraippah,

Dr Li, Dr Montegut, Professor Pham Nhat An,

Rector of Hanoi Medical University, Dr Wiyadi,

Dr Wonodirekso, and Past President Wonca

Asia Pacific Region, Professor Goh Lee Gan

We met the Honorary Vice Minister

in a formal meeting at the Ministry

on 6th June 2008 attended also by

the Rector of Hanoi Medical, Vice

President of the Vietnam Association

of Family Physicians and Director

of Research and Training of the

ministry. The Vice Minister briefed

us on the history of establishment

of Family Medicine in Vietnam and

stated that there was recent enquiry

by members of the parliament of

Vietnam about the paucity of Family

Doctor trainees.

On behalf of the Wonca Asia Pacific Region,

Dr Donald Li presents a souvenir plaque in

commemoration of the meeting to Professor

Nguyen Thi Kim TIEN, Vietnam Vice Minister

of Health and Member of Parliament

Our team elaborated on the

history of Wonca and its commitment

to elevating standards in Family

Medicine as a specialty in medicine.

Our team elaborated that Family

Medicine as a specialty was enhanced

by the development of various

interest groups such as research,

classification of diseases, medical

informatics, practice management, e-

learning, women in Family Medicine

and quality in general practice.

One of the enquiries was about

methods of encouraging doctors to

take up Family Medicine. We solicited

support for the development of

the FM curriculum in the medical

universities in Vietnam.

The Vice Minister promised support

to the universities and elicited plans

to build primary healthcare networks

led by family doctors, establishment

of a division of FM and suggested

to hold more conference, workshops

on a larger scale on primary care

and family medicine. Registration

of all medical practitioners was the

ministry’s present mission and she

sought assistance and advice from

those countries who already had a

system in place.

Wonca

News

Member and Organization News / Resources for the Family Doctor

I think our meeting was successful in helping the

FM trainers and teacher gather support and recognition

from government. We look forward to more FM related

activities in Vietnam.

Dr Donald Li

President, Wonca Asia Pacific Region

dr2318@hotmail.com

Raheem Dhanani Named Family Medicine

Chair At Aga Khan University – East

AFRICA

The senior faculty member

of the Department of Family

Medicine at the Karachi,

Pakistan campus of Aga Khan

University (AKU), Dr. Raheem

H. Dhanani, has been named

Family Medicine Department

Chairman of the AKU - East

Africa campus in Dar-es-Salaam,

Tanzania. He will lead

the upcoming department of Family Medicine at the

Nairobi, Kenya campus of AKU as well.

Prior to being named FM Chairman at the AKU – East

Africa campus, Dr Dhanani spent 13 rewarding years at

the AKU – Karachi Campus, working alongside the leaders

of Family Medicine in Pakistan, like Dr. Riaz Qureshi

– Former Chairman and his mentor; Dr. Rukhsana Zuberi

– Associate Dean for Education and his supervisor; Dr.

Waris Qidwai – Current Chairman and his teacher; and

Dr. Badar Sabir Alir, his educator.

An active member of Wonca, Dr Dhanani has been a

leader in global family medicine education as examiner

with the Royal College of General Practitioner’s MRCGP

International South Asia, and as coordinator and faculty

in numerous international Family Medicine conferences

and other related meetings, trainings and workshops. You

can contact Dr Dhanani at raheem.dhanani@aku.edu and

raheemdhanani68@gmail.com.

Resources For The Family Doctor

Mental Health in Family Medicine

Family doctors and their teams play a central role

in caring for those who suffer from the whole spectrum

of acute and long-term medical conditions including

mental illness. Wonca needs to be able to share best

practices in the delivery of mental health in primary

care worldwide so that race, ethnicity and geographical

location will not be a barrier to our patients receiving

the best quality mental healthcare from primary care or

family physicians.

To deliver upon this goal, the Wonca Working Party

on Mental Health has formally adopted the journal

Mental Health in Family Medicine as its official journal.

This journal will be the focus for sharing the work of

those who have an interest in mental health within

communities, families and primary care and this is

reflected in the broad international editorial board

membership. The new editorial team would like to thank

Andre Tylee, Alan Cohen and Chirs Manning for their

editorial leadership for the forerunner of this journal,

Primary Care Mental Health.

Our vision for this journal is for it to become the

voice of primary care mental health worldwide and for it

to occupy a special place in the ractice of mental health

in family medicine. In line with this vision, the journal

will be freely available on the web to practitioners in

developing nations and, during the first 12 months,

will be available to all direct members of Wonca. The

journal wishes to take a collaborative approach with

other organizations that have an interest in mental

health. We welcome regular contributions from the WHO,

World Psychiatric Association, other sister colleges and

organizations. Our plans for the publication include:

artwork on the cover from patients, family physicians,

psychiatrists or other professionals with an interest in

mental health; high quality review articles on areas of

mental health; original mental health articles and audits;

patient stories and accounts; reports on key meetings and

workshops on mental health; special thematic editions;

and a maximum of one peer reviewed article per edition

in a language other than English.

The journal is already indexed in EMBASE/Excerpta

Medica, Scopus, EMCare, CUNAHL, British Nursing

Index, DH-Data, Health & Social Care Abstracts, Zetoc,

SwetsWise, EBSCOHost Electronic Journals Service, OCLC

First Search Electronic Collections Online and Ulrich’s

Periodicals Directory. We aim to apply for Medline

Dr Raheem Dhanani

Wonca

News

Resources For The Family Doctor

indexation as soon as possible. All manuscripts will be

peer reviewed with high standards for quality.

Please submit research papers, audits, and information

from your Colleges and relevant images that could be

used on future covers of Mental Health in Family Medicine

to gabriel.ivbijaro@nhs.net.

Mental Health in Family Medicine is published

quarterly. The journal’s website is www.radcliffe-oxford.

com/mhfm. The full text of the current Volume 5 Number

1 2008 issue is available at www.ingentaconnect.com/

content/rmp/mhfm.

Access is free to Wonca members upon registration

at: www.ingentaconnect.com.

Dr Gabriel Ivbijaro

Chair Wonca Working Party on Mental Health

gabriel.ivbijaro@nhs.net

Integrating Mental Health Services Into

Primary Health Care

Mental Health problems constitute a substantial part

of the burden of illness of patients in the community

and are a regular reason for contact with a family doctor.

As a result, Wonca and the World Health Organization

(WHO) are working to strengthen the provision of mental

healthcare through primary care. A Wonca and WHO

Statement on Integrating Mental Health Services into

Primary Health Care has been released and is available on

the Wonca website at www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com under

the top right “Groups” tab under the Wonca Working

Party on Mental Health or through the WHO website at

www.who.int/mental_health/policy/services/3_

MHintoPHC_Infosheet.pdf

WHO and Wonca are also developing a Report on

Integrating Mental Health into Primary Health Care.

The report will provides policy makers and planners

with the rationale and knowledge for moving from an

institutional model of mental healthcare to a more

holistic, comprehensive integrated delivery system at the

primary care level. In addition, through a series of best

practice case studies of long-standing and successful

services from around the world, the report provides

specific information, direction and recommendations for

undertaking effective integration in a number of different

country resources settings. This joint document will also

focus on training primary healthcare providers to include

mental health as part of their daily world. Joint training

and support activities are underway in a number of

regions of the world, with special efforts to assure that

mental healthcare through primary care is accessible on

an equitable basis to all people.

Wonca and the members of the Working Party on

Mental Health have been working closely with the

WHO through an effective partnership with Dr Michelle

Funk, Coordinator, Mental Health Policy and Service

Development, in the WHO’s Department of Mental Health

and Substance Abuse. Further information and WHO

mental health resources are available at: www.who.int/

mental_health/policy

Hosted by:

mexican College of Family medicine

Anahuac No. 60 Colonia Roma sur

mexico DF, 06760

tel: +52 55 55755387

Web: www.woncacancun2010.com

email: jdo14@hotmail.com

Wonca Conferences 2008 – 2013 At A Glance

**Wonca Direct Members enjoy lower conference registration fees

See Wonca Website www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com for upates & membership information

2008

4 – 7 Sept

Europe

Istanbul

Overcoming the distance, Family

Regional

TURKEY

practice - bringing the art of

Conference

medicine to the people

1 – 5 Oct

Asia Pacific

Melbourne

A Celebration of Diversity

Regional

AUSTRALIA

Conference

2009

1-4 March

African

Johannesburg

Family Medicine

Regional Conference

in the African Context

23-26 April

Iberoamericana

San Juan

Theme to be confirmed

-CIMF Regional

SOUTH AFRICA

PUERTO RICO

Conference

5 – 8 June

Asia Pacific

Regional

Hong Kong

Building Bridges

Conference

16 – 19 Sept

Europe

Basel

The Fascination of Complexity -

Regional

SWITZERLAND

Dealing with Individuals in a

Conference

Field of Uncertainty

2010

19 – 23 May

Wonca

Cancun

Millennium Development Goals:

World

MExICO

the Contribution of Family Medicine

Conference

6-9 October

Europe

Malaga

Family Medicine into the Future

Regional

SPAIN

Blending Health & Cultures

Conference

2011

February

Asia Pacific

Cebu

Paradigms of Family Medicine:

Regional

PHILIPPINES

Bridging Old Traditions with

Conference

New Concepts

May

Europe

Warsaw

To be confirmed

Regional

POLAND

Conference

2013

June

Wonca

Prague

Proposed theme:

World Conference

CZECH REPUBLIC Family Medicine: Care for Generations

Information correct as of February 2008.

May be subject to change.

Wonca

News

Wonca Conferences 2008 - 2013

Gloabl Meeting For The

Family Doctor

Wonca World and

Regional Conference

Calendar

Wonca europe Regional Conference,

Istanbul 2008

Host: Turkish Association of Family

Physicians

Theme: Overcoming the Distance

– Family Practice:

Bringing the Art of Medicine

to the People

Date: 4-7 September 2008

Venue: Istanbul Convention and

Exhibition Center Istanbul,

Turkey

Email: info@woncaeurope2008.org

Web: www.woncaeurope2008.org

Wonca Asia Pacific Regional

Conference, melbourne 2008

Host: Royal Australian College of

General Practitioners

Theme: A Celebration of Diversity

Date: 1-5 October 2008

Venue: Melbourne, Australia

Contact: The Meeting Planners

91-97 Islington Street

Collingwood Victoria 3066

Australia

Tel: 613 9417 0888

Fax: 613 9417 0899

Email: wonca2008@

meetingplanners.com.au

Web: www.wonca2008.com

Wonca North American Regional

meeting, Puerto Rico 2008

Host: Wonca North American

Region (in conjunction with

36th North American Primary

Research Group (NAPRG)

meeting)

Date: 15-19 November 2008

Location: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Venue: Wyndham Rio Del Mar Beach

Resort & Spa

Contact: Dr. Alain Montegut, Wonca

North America Region

President

Angela Broderick, NAPCRG

Executive Director

Tel: 800-274-2237, ext 5406

(NAPCRG)

Email: Alain.Montegut@bmc.org

(Wonca North America

Region)

abroderick@stfm.org

(NAPCRG)

Web: www.napcrg.org

Wonca Africa Regional Conference,

Johannesburg 2009

Host: South African Academy of

Family Practice/Primary Care

Theme: A Celebration of Diversity

Date: 1-4 March 2009

Venue: Johannesburg, South Africa

Contact: Professor Khaya Mfenyana

– Convenor

Wonca Africa Regional

President

Walter Sisulu University

Private Bag x1

Mthatha, South Africa

Tel: 27 833 244 4259 or

27 47 502 2728

Fax: 27 47 502 2235

Email: kmfenyana@wsu.ac.za

Wonca Iberoamericana-CImF Regional

Conference, Puerto Rico 2009

Host: Wonca Iberoamericana-CIMF

Date: 23-26 April 2009

Location: Puerto Rico

Contact: Professor Adolfo Rubinstein

Iberoamericana-CIMF Regional

President

Email: adolfo.rubinstein@

hospitalitaliano.org.ar

Web: www.cimfweb.org

Wonca Asia-Pacific Regional Conference,

Hong kong 2009

Host: Hong Kong College of Family

Physicians, HKCFP

Theme: Building Bridges

Date: 5 - 8 June 2009

Venue: Hong Kong Conventional and

Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong

Contact: Dr. Andrew Ip

Chairman, Host Organising

Committee

Hong Kong College of Family

Physicians, HKCFP

Rm 701 HKAM Jockey Club

Bldg.

99 Wong Chuk Hang Road

Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 25286618

Fax: +852 28660616

Email: hkcfp@hkcfp.org.hk

enquiry@wonca2009.org

Web: www.wonca2009.org

Wonca europe Regional Conference,

Basel, switzerland 2009

Host: Swiss Society of General

Medicine SSMG/SGAM

Theme: The Fascination of Complexity

- Dealing with Individuals in a

Field of Uncertainty

Date: 16 - 19 September 2009

Venue: Congress Center Basel,

Switzerland

Contact: Dr Bruno Kissling

Chair Host Organizing

Committee

Swiss Society of General

Medicine SSMG/SGAM

Elfenauweg 6,

CH-3006 Bern

Switzerland

Tel: 0041 352 48 50

Fax: 0041 352 28 84

Email: bruno.kissling@hin.ch

Web: www.woncaeurope2009.org

19th Wonca World Conference, Cancun

2010

Host: Mexican College of Family

Medicine

Theme: Millennium Development

Goals: The Contribution of

Family Medicine

Date: 19-23 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: jdo14@hotmail.com

Wonca

News

Global Meetings For The Family Doctor

Wonca europe Regional Conference,

malaga, spain 2010

Host: The Spanish Society of

Family and Community

Medicine (SEMFYC)

Theme: Family Medicine into the

Future: Blending Health and

Cultures.

Date: 6-9 October 2010

Venue: Málaga Conference Hall

(Palacio de Ferias y

Congresos de Málaga)

Contact: Dr. Luis Gálvez-Alcaraz

Chair Host Organizing

Committee

Spanish Society Family and

Community Medicine

Address: Portaferrissa, 8, pral.

08002 BARCELONA (España)

Tel: 93 317 03 33

Fax: 93 317 77 72

Email: luisgalvez@semfyc.es

Member Organization

and Related Meetings

5th AAFP Family medicine global

Health Workshop, Denver 2008

Host: American Academy of Family

Physicians

Theme: International Healthcare:

Connecting Universal Family

Medicine Concepts with

Local Needs

Date: September 4-6, 2008

Location: Denver (Broomfield),

Colorado

Venue: Omni Interlocken Resort

Planning Committee Co-Chairs:

Edward

J. Shahady, MD and Calvin

Wilson, MD

Contact: Rebecca Janssen

Email: rjanssen@aafp.org

Web: www.aafp.org/intl/

workshop08

the Network - towards unity for

Health International Conference,

Bogota, Columbia 2008

Host: Toward Unity for Health and

Facultad de Medicina,

Universidad de La Sabana,

Chia-Bogota, Columbia

Theme: Adapting Health Services

and Health Professions

Education to Local Needs:

Partnerships, Priorities and

Passions

Date: September 27 – October 2,

2008

Location: Bogota, Columbia

Contact: www.the-networktufh.org/

conference/registrationform.

asp

Web: www.the-networktufh.org/

conference

RCgP Annual Conference, united

kingdom 2008

Host: Royal College of General

Practitioners

Theme: Creating Solutions for the

Future

Date: 2-4 October, 2008

Location: Bournemouth International

Centre

Contact: Profile Productions

Tel: 020 8832 7311

Email: rcgp@profileproductions.co.uk

Web: www.rcgpannualconference.

org.uk

International society for Quality in

Health Care, Copenhagen 2008

Host: International Society for

Quality in Health Care (ISQUA)

Theme: Healthcare Quality and Safety:

Meeting the Next Challenges

Date: 19-22 October 2008

Location: Belle Centre, Copenhagen,

Denmark

Contact: To register, send email or fax

with your name, position and

organization

Email: isqua@isqua.org

Fax: +61 3 9417 6851

36th NAPCRg Annual meeting, Puerto

Rico 2008

Host: North American Primary

Research Group (NAPRG)

Date: 15-19 November 2008

Location: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Venue: Wyndham Rio Del Mar Beach

Resort & Spa

Contact: Angela Broderick, NAPCRG

Executive Director

Tel: 800-274-2237, ext 5406

Email: abroderick@stfm.org

Web: www.napcrg.org

1st International second life Conference

on Family medicine, (XXVIII Conference

of spanish society of Family and

Community medicine), spain 2008

Host: The Spanish Society of Family

and Community Medicine

(SEMFYC)

Theme: “Always with the patients”

Date: November 19-23, 2008

Venue: “Isla de la Salud” Semfyc

Island

Madrid, Spain

Contact: Carmen Moliner Prada,

Chair Host Organising

Committee

Semfyc Congresos

C/ del Pi, 11 - 2ª Pl., Of. 13

08002 Barcelona. Spain.

Language:

Spanish/ English

Tel: 0034 93 317 71 29

Fax: 0034 93 318 69 02

Email: congresos@semfyc.es

Web: congreso2008.semfyc.

gatewaysc.com/

index.cfm?nav_id=339

the College of Family Physicians of

Canada Family medicine Forum, toronto

2008

Date: November 27-29, 2008

Venue: Sheraton Centre

Toronto, Ontario

Contact: Michelle Gutkin

Registration Coordinator

The College of Family

Physicians of Canada

2630 Skymark, Mississauga

(ON), L4W 5A4

Tel: 1.800.387.6197 #800

Email: mg@cfpc.ca

Web: http://fmf.cfpc.ca

Wonca

News

Global Meetings For The Family Doctor

Visit global Family Doctor – Wonca online

http://www.globalfamilydoctor.com

Check the regular features:

Journal Watch – synopses of research from the medical literature relevant to family doctors

Clinical Reviews – outstanding review articles for family doctors on a variety of topics

Journal Alerts – an emailed service about the latest in Journal Watch and Clinical Reviews

Journal Alerts en espanol – a new batch is posted at the beginning of each month

Disease Alerts – the latest disease outbreaks from WHO and CDC

travel Alerts – advice for you to give to your traveling patients

online Cme – interactive programs, some with CME credits

Clinical Nutrition updates – a new topic is presented every three weeks

Poems – Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters – a new POEM is posted twice a week

Poems em Portugues – a new one is posted twice a week

emedicine – a weekly clinical case for you to solve, with a visual cue: photo, ECG, radiograph

eBmsources – an appraisal of two evidence based medicine websites is posted every month

Cutting edge – an interesting series about the latest medical hypotheses, posted weekly

educational Resource Centre – a repository of educational materials for family doctors

Research – the latest on Wonca’s research activities, and opportunities for research

Conference updates – details of Wonca and other conferences

Publications – details of Wonca publications and Wonca News

Wonca Websites – addresses of Member Organization and other Wonca websites

global Resource Directory – where you can record you international projects, and view others

medical mirth – humor with a medical angle to lighten your day

Quotable Quotes – quotes you can use, many with a medical slant

latest News – of coming meetings, conferences and events

Patient education – resources you can use to inform your patients

About Wonca – details of the Wonca organization, office bearers and Direct Members

Wonca groups – details of Wonca’s committees and working groups

Information – Notice Board, Letters to the Editor, Doctor of the Month, list servers, mailing lists

search facilities – you can search the 5,000 items in Journal Watch and Clinical Reviews, as well as web pages and

documents on the Global Family Doctor website

Homepage promotions – conferences, symposia, website features, special offers

You can enjoy a FRee personalized updating service:

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We take days scanning the journals, so you need take only minutes.

Visit global Family Doctor daily – and keep up to date

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