Wonca News - June 2007

From the Wonca President

The Final Straight

From the CEO’s Desk

The 2004-2007 Triennium in Review

From the Editor

Chronicling Wonca’s Journey

FEATURE STORIES

• Wonca’s Dramatic Membership Growth Continues

• Readers Find Great Value in Global Family Doctor - Wonca Online

Wonca’s Working Parties

• Wonca International Classification Committee

• Working Party on Women and Family Medicine

• Working Party on Rural Practice

• Working Party on Mental Health

Wonca REGIONAL NEWS

• Wonca Triennium Regional Highlights

HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS

• Wonca attends the World Health Assembly

• Wonca Continues Active Collaboration with WHO

MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

• Wes Fabb Retires as GFD Medical Editor: Jim Vause Assumes Role

• IFPCRN Marks 6 Years of Operation: Elects New Chair

• Chris vanWeel Awarded Prestigious Netherlands Award

• The Triennium’s Global Family Doctors of the Month

• Vale Eric McNair

RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR

• Triennium Global Health Reports and Initiatives

• Improving Health Systems: the Contribution of Family Medicine -

The Wonca Guidebook

GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR

VOLUME 33

NUMBERS 3-4

JUNE-AUGUST 2007

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

Prof Khaya Mfenyana, Africa

Warren A Heffron, MD, North America

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:

THE FINAL STRAIGHT

“Linked together by the strong bonds of community

interest, the profession of medicine forms a remarkable

world-unit in the progressive evolution of which there is

a fuller hope for humanity than in any other direction”

William Osler. (1849-1919). In Aequanimitas

This is my final column as President of this

remarkable organisation. In Singapore in July I will be

handing over the mantle to my well-known successor,

Professor Chris van Weel. It has been a long and

exciting association with the organisation since I

attended my first General Assembly and Council Meeting

in Singapore in 1983.

It has indeed been a pleasure and honour to serve

the organisation as its President. During these three

years I have met remarkable family doctors across the

Globe. In my April column I made mention of the

impressive universality of family practice around the

world and the ever pervasive quest to improve the

standards and quality of health care. My visits to

member organisations have taken me to all parts of the

globe, where family medicine is alive and well, but

regretfully not to as many undeveloped countries as I

would have wished. Since Wonca’s travel budget is

limited, especially for expensive travels from South

Africa, I often relied on support from countries being

visited. This regretfully limited my visits to poorer

regions.

This triennium edition of Wonca News is an exciting

chronicle of the activities of the organisation during this

period. Most of them are successes that have

disseminated and consolidated the role of Wonca as a

truly global representative organisation of academic,

practicing family doctors. This success would not have

been possible without the dedication and commitment

of the President Elect, Regional Presidents, Members of

the World and Regional Executive committees, and all

the convenors, chairpersons and members of the

Wonca’s committees, working parties, task forces,

interest groups and individuals. These structures and

activities were ably and overwhelmingly supported and

guided by the CEO and Secretariat. I salute and thank

them all for their continuing support of Wonca and its

mission. Many of the activities of these structures are

reported in this edition of Wonca News.

WONCA

News

FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT

The organisation now has 112 member organisations

in 93 countries, with 5 new members likely to be

confirmed in July. These are all listed in this newsletter.

The promise of numerous new members within the next

year is eagerly awaited. The only continent not

colonised is Antarctica!

We have also been particularly encouraged in the

last three years by closer collaboration with WHO.

Activities have included further consolidation of the use

of International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2),

membership of the Global Alliance against Chronic

Respiratory Diseases (GARD), participation on the WHO

Initiative on Social Determinants of Health, and support

for the WHO Framework on Tobacco Control

While many of the activities of Wonca are at

committee level ‘behind closed doors’ the real face of

Wonca is the host of activities organised between World

Congresses within the Wonca Regions. These have

included numerous Regional and National Congresses,

teacher training workshops, quality assurance

programmes, CPD Programmes, research programmes

and publications.

The Wonca website, Global Family Doctor, continues

to offer an excellent site of news and educational

material. The most successful product is ‘Journal Alerts’.

The team of reviewers led by Professor Wes Fabb review

over 4000 articles a month to produce the email alerts

that have been acclaimed internationally as the most

effective method used by many practitioners to keep up

to date with the medical literature. Professor Fabb

retires in July from his position as Medical Editor. His

tenacity, industry and dedication to this website are

applauded with appreciation.

Reform of our bylaws has continued, to streamline

and enable the organisation to be more effective, to

adapt and react to changing circumstances with greater

ease while still maintaining a stable and consistent

infrastructure. Major changes to be considered during

the next triennium include important and needy

amendments to encourage greater gender equity within

the organisation. These changes are to be welcomed if

the organisation is to remain relevant in a changing

World. The Bylaws committee have done an excellent

job to transform the bylaws and regulations.

I must pay a personal tribute to Dr Marc Rivo who

has been the editor of Wonca News since 2001. His

enthusiasm and editorial style have been awe-inspiring,

and he has always had a ‘nose’ for news likely to

maintain the interest of Wonca members. I thank him

WONCA

News

FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT / FROM THE CEO’S DESK

FROM THE CEO’S DESK:

THE 2004-2007 TRIENNIUM IN REVIEW

It has been a good triennium for Wonca. These three years saw Wonca

growing further in terms of geographical representation and in its contacts

with other NGOs, academic institutions, The World Health Organisation and

industry. There were also significant steps taken to consolidate and

standardize Wonca’s many operational requirements.

The Wonca Secretariat

The Wonca World Secretariat continues to function with the same

number of staff and in the same office adjacent to the premises of the

College of Family Physicians, Singapore.

The Secretariat may be need to move for space reasons in the coming

triennium. During the past triennium, the Secretariat has successfully

instituted the following measures to streamline the operational aspects of

the Organisation.

Revision of Member Organisations’ Dues

Following the Orlando Wonca World Council’s acceptance of the

Executive’s recommendations to have a more structured policy for

calculating the membership dues of Wonca Member Organizations (MOs),

these dues are now categorized into four broad groups based on the GDP

per capita of the country from World Bank figures with the following

discounts applicable to the amount of dues payable: by the four categories

A) MOs with GDP per capita above the world’s average GDP per capita pay

the full MO dues, i.e., 0% discount.

B) MOs between the world average and 50% of that average receive a 33%

discount on the dues payable.

C) MOs with GDP per capita of less than 50% of world average receive a

50% discount.

D) MOs in countries with GDP per capita of less than 75% of the world

average receive a 75% discount.

These rates have been in effect since January 2005.

Revision of Direct Members Dues

Following the Orlando Wonca World Council’s acceptance of the

Executive’s recommendations to have a more structured policy for Direct

Member Dues, new applicants now pay a once off processing fee of US$40

and an annual membership dues of US$25 per year, or $75 for three years.

In addition to these, regional dues where applicable are added. Currently,

the additional dues are applied only to the European and Asia Pacific

Regions. These rates have been in effect from January 2005.

for his dedication, and gentle

nudges, usually via my wife, to

encourage me to submit my column

on time.

I believe that Wonca has

concluded another successful

chapter in its development as a

global organisation, but as the

organisation grows and its influence

spreads it will require a much larger

‘head-office’. At present this large

World organisation relies on the

magnificent contribution of only

three full-time employed staff! All

other office bearers, (including the

President!) are volunteers with only

expenses covered. I believe that if

the President and possibly others

are to fulfil their global roles

effectively, this issue would have to

be examined. Without the generous

assistance of my University, I would

not have been able to discharge my

duties.

My final contribution would not

be complete without a tribute to my

wife, Louise. She continues to be a

great pillar of strength in my life.

Her generous support for my

activities, (and frequent absences),

during this Wonca triennium and

during my association with the

organisation over nearly 25 years is

deeply appreciated. Her courage and

perseverance during the nine

months of her recent grave illness

have been an inspiration to me and

my family. Thank you Louise!

Professor Bruce Sparks, M.D.

World President of Wonca

WONCA

News

FROM THE CEO’S DESK

ICPC-2

In December 2003, Wonca received the good news

that the WHO-FIC Network of the WHO Collaborating

Centre had accepted ICPC into the Family of

Classification (FIC) as a related classification to be used

for health information registration in Primary Care.

This membership of the WHO-FIC resulted in greater

interest in ICPC globally and enquiries were received by

the Wonca Secretariat on the purchase of national rights

for the exclusive use of ICPC by several countries.

Wonca Executive then established a formula for the

calculation of national licences for ICPC based on the

GDP and GDP per capita of the country. To date five

national licences for ICPC have been purchased from

Wonca by the governments of Belgium, Norway,

Switzerland, Finland and the Portuguese Association of

General Practitioners. Wonca reached an agreement with

Oxford University Press that would return the publishing

rights for the English version of ICPC back to Wonca.

Several countries have expressed interest in the English

language version of ICPC.

Disaster response

The Wonca Secretariat made immediately following

the Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004, an appeal

for help to all member organizations globally via

e-mails. We received prompt and positive responses

from individuals and member organizations informing

the Secretariat of the many ways help was being

extended. The Dutch College together with the

University of Nijmegen collected a total of US$24,000

for the victims of the disaster. These were later given to

the Sri Lanka College to help rebuild the homes of

fishermen whose seaside homes were completely

destroyed.

In another natural disaster, individual family doctors

from some countries like Switzerland, Canada, United

Kingdom and France responded by traveling to Northern

Pakistan following the earthquake to help with medical

relief work. Some of them received their contacts

through the Wonca World Secretariat.

Wonca CEO Alfred and

Yiau Leng Loh and their

daughter, Abigail, with the

Japanese Geisha at the 2005

Asia Pacific Regional

Conference in Kyoto

The Wonca Executive Committee

During this triennium, the Wonca Executive

Committee continued to meet as a Full Executive

annually with the Core Executive (President, President-

Elect, Honorary Treasurer and CEO) meeting at around

the sixth month between Full Executive Meetings. This

pattern of Executive Meetings was introduced during the

2001 – 2003 Triennium and continued into this

triennium to save on cost of travel and accommodation.

The 2004 – 07 Wonca Executive and accompanying family at Asia

Pacific Regional Conference in Kyoto. From left to right, Rich Roberts,

Abra Fransch, Ruth and Dan Ostergaard, Yvonne Chung, Igor Svab,

Susan Boland, Teresa Dominguez del Omo, Geoff Martin, Michael

Boland, Abigail Loh, Marc Rivo, Shatendra Gupta, Yiau Leng Loh, Javier

Dominguez del Omo, Bruce Sparks, Swee Swan and Goh Lee Gan, and

Alfred Loh.

Khaya Mfenyana, elected May 2006 as Wonca Africa Region President

following the resignation of Abra Fransch, who served with great

distinction in the role from May 2001 to May 2006

Wonca’s Membership Growth

Wonca’s rapid growth has continued throughout this

past triennium (see Feature Story on Membership).

Today, Wonca represents 112 member organizations from

93 countries. This includes 12 Associate Member

Organizations and 10 Organizations in Collaborative

Relations. This is exciting growth for a relatively young

organization of 35 years. When we started in 1972, there

were only 18 founding member organizations. As

WONCA

News

FROM THE CEO’S DESK

recently as 1994 we had only 50 member organizations.

Wonca had 27 new member organizations joining in the

previous triennium and another 12 in this current

triennium. Wonca member organizations now cover

every continent on the globe and exist in countries

representing 85% of the world’s population. We

continue to receive interest from family doctor

organizations in the Middle East and it is likely that a

new Wonca Region will be created for that part of the

globe soon.

The Wonca Executive accepted a recommendation by

the Wonca Americas Region to change its name to the

Wonca North America Region to better reflect the

developments that have taken place in Wonca in that

part of the world with the new Iberoamericana-CIMF

Region.

Wonca’s New Working Parties

Wonca Working Party on Mental Health

The Wonca Special Interest Group on Neurology and

Psychiatry was formed in 2004. In the past few years

the SIG has been very active in the area of educational

forums, development of stakeholder relations,

contribution to literature and research and especially in

collaboration with WHO on the Integration of Mental

Health into Primary Care. In response to and in

appreciation for all the good work done by the SIG,

Wonca Executive at its meeting in Buenos Aires in

October 2006, agreed to upgrade the SIG to the status

of a Wonca Working Party. The newly named Wonca

Working Party on Mental Health is currently one of the

most active working parties and works very closely with

the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

of WHO.

Wonca Working Party on Education

At the Wonca Executive Meeting in Kyoto in 2005,

Prof Michael Kidd was requested to look into the

possible re-establishment of a Wonca Working Party on

Education. Executive felt this to be important given that

education is core business for each of the member

organisations of Wonca, and given the increase in

interest at an international and regional level in

education for family medicine.

The Core Executive Meeting in February 2006

approved the proposed mission, terms of reference,

possible membership and initial activities submitted by

Dr Kidd after which the Working Party on Education be

established. The Wonca Working Party on Education will

support high quality education, training, assessment

and continuing professional development in general

practice / family medicine for medical students, doctors

in training, and established general practitioners and

family doctors.

Better gender balance in Wonca

This issue was discussed at length at the Core

Executive Meeting in Singapore in February 2005. Core

Executive agreed that there needed to be increased

female representation and gender balance in Wonca.

The Meeting agreed that there was a need for a focused

discussion and further input from the Wonca Working

Party on Women and Family Medicine (WWPWFM), and

also from Wonca Member Organizations Core Executive

also felt that it was necessary to make changes in the

Wonca’s Bylaws and Regulations on gender balance to

encourage the change. Wonca Executive has since

received two documents from the WWPWFM entitled

“The HER (Hamilton Equity Statement)” and “Wonca’s

Ten Steps towards Gender Equity”. At the Buenos Aires

Full Executive Meeting in October 2006, it was resolved

that Wonca Executive approve the establishment of a

group to address issues of gender equity chaired by the

President and will include appropriate representatives

from the Executive Committee, Bylaws Committee and

the WWPWFM. This work will start soon in the new

triennium

The Wonca Website

At the Wonca Executive Meeting in St Augustine,

Florida in November 2004, it was decided by Executive,

following the decision to terminate the partnership with

MediWorld, that an attempt be made to keep the

website going by committing funds from Wonca itself.

The World Council also agreed this to then. By January

2005, Wonca had assumed full control of its website

(www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com) and had installed its own

server housed within Dolphin IT in Melbourne, Australia.

With the funding secured by having five

pharmaceutical multinationals as Wonca Global

Sponsors and with the website’s infrastructure properly

constituted, GFD has in the period of this triennium

grown from strength to strength. The website has now

become the ‘image of Wonca ‘ to the outside world and

during the triennium significant changes and progress

have been made.

WONCA

News

FROM THE CEO’S DESK / FROM THE EDITOR

WHO and Wonca Collaborations

Wonca’s status as an NGO in Collaborative Relations with WHO has just

been renewed. Currently Wonca has several areas of collaboration with the

world body (see Health and Health System News article), which we hope will

increase in the years ahead.

At the recently concluded 60th WHO General Assembly in May 2007,

attended by Prof Michael Kidd and the CEO, new inroads and networking

have been achieved that should pave the way for closer collaboration

between the two world bodies.

Wonca Finance

Wonca has had a good financial period for the triennium 2004 - 2006. A

significant part of this healthier financial state at the end of the triennium

had been contributed by two important factors, namely:

1) The wisdom of World Council in agreeing to drastically reduce the budget

allocations to Executive and the Regions and a similar tightening of

budget of the various sub-groups of Wonca Committees, Working Parties

and Task Forces at the last World Council in Orlando in 2004; and

2) The step taken by Wonca to engage industry in an ethical manner

through the Wonca Global Sponsorships, satellite symposia and

educational projects in collaboration with the Wonca Website.

This dual approach of prudent budgeting for expenditure at all times and

a willingness to engage in new revenue generating ventures which do not

infringe on the ethical code of Wonca, will be needed to ensure that the

Organization continues to build up its assets and eventually accumulate a

financial reserve of one year’s fiscal need.

Dr Alfred Loh

Chief Executive Officer

World Organization of Family Doctors

FROM THE EDITOR:

CHRONICLING WONCA’S

JOURNEY

“Civilization is a movement and

not a condition, a voyage and not a

harbor”.

Arnold Toynbee

This combined June to August

2007 issue of Wonca News records

the journey of our Wonca family and

global community during the 2004

to 2007 triennium following the 17th

Wonca World Conference in Orlando,

Florida, USA in October 2004.

In their President’s and CEO

column, Bruce Sparks and Alfred Loh

reflect on their personal highlights

during Wonca’s latest triennium, and

which are chronicled in this special

Triennium Issue. Both cited Wonca’s

continual membership growth as

one of Wonca’s most significant

achievements this triennium. As

Warren Heffron, Wonca’s

Membership Chair reports, Wonca

has grown to 117 member

organizations from 95 countries, and

with applications ready for review

during the Singapore Wonca

Executive Committee meeting, may

grow to 117 countries from 95

countries by the end of the

Singapore Wonca Council meeting.

Wonca is the sum total of its

component organizational parts – its

Regions, member organizations and

its interest groups. This issue of

Wonca News reports on some of the

milestones reported by Wonca’s

regions and working parties, on key

developments in health and health

systems, on important resources for

the family doctor, and on individual

family doctors who contributed to

Wonca’s success around the world.

WONCA

News

FROM THE EDITOR / FEATURE STORIES

FEATURE STORIES

WONCA’S DRAMATIC MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

CONTINUES

Wonca continued to grow dramatically during the past triennium and

throughout the first decade of the 21st century. We continue to receive

enquiries about membership as well as completed applications. At the

beginning of the current triennium we had a total of 100 Member

Organizations from 83 different countries. By the end of the last Executive

meeting in Buenos Aires our membership had increased to 112 Member

Organizations from 93 countries. This includes 12 Associate Member

Organizations and 10 Organizations in Collaborative Relations. The Regional

breakdown is as follows:

Wonca Africa

6 member organizations

Wonca North America

5 member organizations

Wonca Asia Pacific

19 member organizations

13 member organizations

17 member organizations

Wonca Europe

42 member organizations

Wonca Middle East South Asia

Wonca Iberoamericana - CIMF

During the upcoming Wonca Executive Committee meeting, applications

from four new member organizations will be reviewed. If the new candidate

organizations are approved, than Wonca will have 117 Member Organizations

representing 96 different countries at the end of our World Council meeting

in Singapore.

The 21st century represents an exciting period of

growth for a relatively young organization. When

Wonca was established in 1972, only 18 charter

member organizations existed. As recently as 1994,

only 50 Member Organizations comprised Wonca. a

little more than a decade, that number has more

than doubled. In the 2001 to 2004 Triennium, 27 new

Member Organizations jointed Wonca. In this current

triennium, another 16 new Member Organizations

have joined. We also have 1986 Direct (ie, individual)

members from 91 countries.

It is important to acknowledge

that many; many other vitally

important and historic events took

place in addition to that which is

recorded in this triennium issue. In

reality, each of Wonca’s Member

Organizations has filled their

publications during the past

triennium with important

contributions to world health and to

Wonca’s mission. During this past

triennium, individual contributions

of almost 2,000 direct members and

the more than 160,000 family

doctors Wonca represents helped

meet people’s health needs around

the world. Please continue to send

me your stories so that Wonca News

may record our most accurate and

comprehensive global picture of

Wonca’s journey in the upcoming

triennium.

While a new story remains to be

told of our future travels, this

special issue of Wonca News is

proof that we have much to

remember, celebrate and honor

during our collective journey this

past triennium.

Marc L. Rivo, MD, MPH

Editor, Wonca News

marcrivo@aol.com

4566 Prairie Avenue

Miami Beach, FL 33140 USA

1-305-674-8839 (fax)

Warren Heffron,

Wonca Membership

Committee Chair

With continued enquiries from organizations that are interested in applying for membership, Wonca can expect

continued growth. During the past three years, the Wonca Membership Committee was comprised of the following

members who served with distinction: Liliana Arias Castillo (Colombia), Mattie Obazee (Nigeria), Maarten Klomp

(Netherlands), Sugito Wonodirekso (Indonesia), and Pratap Prasad (Nepal). The Committee was ably guided and

supported by Wonca CEO Dr. Alfed Loh and Administrative Manager, Ms. Yvonne Chung.

Warren Heffron M.D.

Chair, Wonca Membership Committee

Wonca Member Organizations as of June 2006

Date joined

Country

Name of Organization

Mbr* type

Wonca Region

Wonca

1-Jan-73

AUSTRALIA

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

ASIA PACIFIC

1-Jan-73

CANADA

The College of Family Physicians of Canada

NORTH AMERICA

1-Jan-73

ISRAEL

Israel Association of Family Physicians

EUROPEAN

1-Jan-73

NETHERLANDS

Dutch College of General Practitioners /

Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap NHG

EUROPEAN

1-Jan-73

NEW ZEALAND

Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

ASIA PACIFIC

1-Jan-73

PAKISTAN

College of Family Medicine Pakistan

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

1-Jan-73

PHILIPPINES

Philippine Academy of Family Physicians

ASIA PACIFIC

1-Jan-73

SINGAPORE

College of Family Physicians, Singapore

ASIA PACIFIC

1-Jan-73

UNITED KINGDOM

Royal College of General Practitioners

EUROPEAN

1-Jan-73

USA

American Academy of Family Physicians

NORTH AMERICA

1-Jan-75

MALAYSIA

Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia

ASIA PACIFIC

Akademi Kedoktoran Keluarga Malaysia

1-Jan-76

NORWAY

Norwegian College of General Practitioners

EUROPEAN

Norsk Forening for Allmennmedisin, NFA

8-Jan-76

DENMARK

Danish College of General Practitioners

EUROPEAN

Dansk Selskab for Almen Medicin DSAM

2-Jun-76

ZIMBABWE

The College of Primary Care Physicians of Zimbabwe

AFRICA

6-Sep-77

SWEDEN

Swedish Association of General Practice

EUROPEAN

Svensk forening for allmanmedicin, SFAM

8-Nov-77

FRANCE

La Société FranÇaise Médecine Génerale SFMG

EUROPEAN

12-May-78

HONG KONG

The Hong Kong College of Family Physicians

ASIA PACIFIC

12-May-78

SRI LANKA

College of General Practitioners of Sri Lanka

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

5-Aug-80

ICELAND

The Icelandic College of Family Physicians

EUROPEAN

3-Oct-80

NIGERIA

Association of General and Private Medical

AFRICA

Practitioners of Nigeria

29-Aug-81

SOUTH AFRICA

African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care

AFRICA

29-Aug-81

USA

Society of Teachers of Family Medicine

NORTH AMERICA

1-Jan-82

GERMANY

Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Allgemeinmedizin und

EUROPEAN

Familienmedizin DEGAM/

German Society of General Practice/Family Medicine

14-Aug-82

INDIA

Indian Academy of General Practice

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

Date joined

Country

Name of Organization

Mbr* type

Wonca Region

Wonca

14-Aug-82

INDONESIA

The Indonesian Association of Family Physicians

ASIA PACIFIC

Perhimpunan Dokter Keluarga Indonesia

21-May-83

KOREA

The Korean Academy of Family Medicine

ASIA PACIFIC

2-Jun-84

FINLAND

Finnish Association for General Practice

EUROPEAN

Suomen Yleislaaketieteen Yhdistys

28-Mar-85

JAPAN

The Japanese Academy of Primary Care Physicians

ASIA PACIFIC

28-Mar-85

PORTUGAL

Portuguese Association of General Practitioners

EUROPEAN

Associacao Portuguesa dos Medicos de Clinica Geral

28-Mar-85

THAILAND

The General Practitioners/

ASIA PACIFIC

Family Physicians Association, Thailand

14-Sep-85

IRELAND

The Irish College of General Practitioners

EUROPEAN

30-May-86

USA

American Board of Family Medicine

NORTH AMERICA

3-Sep-87

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh College of General Practitioners

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

2-May-88

TAIWAN

Chinese Taipei Association of Family Medicine

ASIA PACIFIC

1-Oct-88

SPAIN

Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine,

EUROPEAN

SEMFYC

3-Oct-88

GREECE

Greek Association of General Practitioners ELEGEIA

EUROPEAN

1-May-89

MALTA

Malta College of Family Doctors

EUROPEAN

11-May-89

ITALY

International Society of Doctors for the Environment

COLLABORATIVE

ISDE Scientific Office

14-Aug-91

ITALY

Centro Studi e Ricerche in Medicina Generale CSeRMEG

EUROPEAN

1-Jan-92

BELGIUM

European Academy of Teachers in General Practice EURACT

COLLABORATIVE

1-Jan-92

NETHERLANDS

European General Practice Research Network EGPRN

COLLABORATIVE

7-May-92

MACAU

Associacao dos Medicos de Clinica Geral de MacauFASIA

ASIA PACIFIC

Macau Association of General Practitioners

17-May-92

JAMAICA

The Caribbean College of Family Physicians

COLLABORATIVE

9-May-93

CZECH REPUBLIC

Czech Society of General Practice

EUROPEAN

9-May-93

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Slovak Society of General/Family Practice

EUROPEAN

9-May-93

SLOVENIA

Slovenian Family Medicine Society

EUROPEAN

21-Jun-93

FIJI

Fiji College of General Practitioners

ASIA PACIFIC

24-May-94

ANDORRA

Andorran Society of Primary Care Doctors

EUROPEAN

Associacio Andorrana de Metges D’Atencio Primaria

24-May-94

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Society of Family and Community Medicine

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

11-May-95

PHILIPPINES

Foundation for Family Medicine Educators, Inc

ASIA PACIFIC

11-May-95

SWITZERLAND

Swiss Society of General Medicine SSMG/SGAM

EUROPEAN

10-Aug-95

CHINA

Chinese Society of General Practice

ASIA PACIFIC

29-Sep-95

FRANCE

College National des Generalistes Enseignants CNGE

EUROPEAN

11-May-96

ESTONIA

Estonian Society of Family Doctors

EUROPEAN

28-Jun-96

POLAND

Kolegium Lekarzy Rodzinnych w Polsce

EUROPEAN

College of Family Physicians in Poland

16-Dec-96

AUSTRIA

Austrian Society of General Practice/Family Medicine

EUROPEAN

Osterreichische Gesellschaft fur Allgemein und Familienmedizin

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

Date joined

Country

Name of Organization

Mbr* type

Wonca Region

Wonca

16-Dec-96

PAKISTAN

Pakistan Society of Family Physicians, Lahore

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

22-Jun-97

NEPAL

General Practitioners’ Association of Nepal

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

27-Jun-97

LITHUANIA

College of General Practitioners of Lithuania

EUROPEAN

16-Oct-97

CROATIA

Croatian Association of Family Medicine

EUROPEAN

16-Oct-97

USA

North American Primary Care Research Group, NAPCRG

COLLABORATIVE

1-Jan-98

NIGERIA

Faculty of Family Medicine, National Postgraduate

Medical College of Nigeria

AFRICA

22-May-98

ROMANIA

Romanian National Society of General Practice/

EUROPEAN

Family Medicine

1-Jun-98

BELGIUM

Belgian Society of General Practitioners/Family Physicians

EUROPEAN

7-Jun-98

MONGOLIA

Mongolian Association of Family Doctors

ASIA PACIFIC

7-Feb-99

UKRAINE

Ukranian Association of Family Medicine

EUROPEAN

28-Jun-99

GHANA

West African College of Physicians Ghana Chapter

AFRICA

Faculty of Family Medicine

5-Oct-99

ITALY

Italian Academy of Family Physicians

EUROPEAN

Associazione Italiana Medici di Famiglia (AIMEF)

1-Feb-00

AUSTRALIA

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine

ASIA PACIFIC

8-Nov-01

CYPRUS

Cyprus Medical Association of General Pracitioners Ltd

EUROPEAN

8-Nov-01

HUNGARY

International Association of Agricultural Medicine &

COLLABORATIVE

Rural Health

6-Jun-02

ARGENTINA

Argentine Federation of Family and General Medicine

IBEROAMERICANA

Federación Argentina de Medicina Familiar y General

(FAMFyG)

6-Jun-02

BOLIVIA

Sociedad Boliviana de Medicina Familiar

IBEROAMERICANA

Bolivian Society of Family Medicine

6-Jun-02

BOSNIA AND

Association of Family Medicine Specialists and

EUROPEAN

HERZEGOVINA

Residents of Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina

and Republika Srpska

6-Jun-02

BRAZIL

Brazilian Society of Family and Community Medicine

IBEROAMERICANA

Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina de Familia e

Comunidade (SBMFC)

6-Jun-02

CHILE

Scientific Society of Familiar and General Medicine of Chile

IBEROAMERICANA

de Chile

6-Jun-02

COLOMBIA

Colombian Society of Family Medicine

IBEROAMERICANA

Sociedad Colombiana de Medicina Familiar SOCMEF

6-Jun-02

ECUADOR

Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Medicina Familiar (SEMF)

IBEROAMERICANA

6-Jun-02

MEXICO

Colegio Mexicano de Medicina Familiar A.C.

IBEROAMERICANA

Mexican College of Family Medicine

6-Jun-02

PANAMA

Asociacion Panamena de Medicina Familiar

IBEROAMERICANA

6-Jun-02

PERU

Peruvian Society of Family Medicine & Integral

IBEROAMERICANA

and Management Health /

Sociedad Peruana de Medicina Familiar, Integral y

Gestión en Salud

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

Date joined

Country

Name of Organization

Mbr* type

Wonca Region

Wonca

6-Jun-02

URUGUAY

Sociedad Uruguaya de Medicos de Familia (SUMEFAM)

IBEROAMERICANA

Uruguayan Society of Family Medicine

6-Jun-02

VENEZUELA

Sociedad Venezolana de Medicina Familiar

IBEROAMERICANA

1-Jan-03

KYRGYZSTAN

Association of Family Group Practices, (FGPA) Kyrgyzstan

EUROPEAN

12-Apr-03

BRAZIL

Brazilian Society of Family Medicine /

COLLABORATIVE

Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina de Familia (SOBRAMFA)

12-Apr-03

KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan Association of Family Physicians

EUROPEAN

12-Apr-03

LEBANON

The Lebanese Society of Family Medicine

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

12-Apr-03

TURKEY

Turkish Association of Family Physicians (TAHUD)

EUROPEAN

1-Jan-04

BANGLADESH

The Bangladesh Academy of Family Physicians

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

1-Jan-04

KENYA

Kenya Association of Family Physicians

AFRICA

1-Jan-04

KENYA

Institute of Family Medicine of Kenya Trust

COLLABORATIVE

17-Apr-04

BAHRAIN

Bahrain Family Physicians Association

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

17-Apr-04

BELARUS

The Belarussian Association of General Practitioners

COLLABORATIVE

(BAVOP)

17-Apr-04

GEORGIA

Georgia Family Medicine Association

EUROPEAN

17-Apr-04

JORDAN

Jordan Society of Family Medicine (JSFM)

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

1-Jun-04

ITALY

Scientific Interdisciplinary Association of Both Family

EUROPEAN

and Community Medicine (AsSIMeFaC)

12-Oct-04

COSTA RICA

Costa Rican Association of Specialists in Family and

IBEROAMERICANA

Community Medicine/Asociacion Costarriencense de

Especialistas en Familiar y Comunitaria

12-Oct-04

DOMINICAN

Dominican Republic Society of Family Medicine /

IBEROAMERICANA

REPUBLIC

Sociedad Dominicana de Medicina Familiar

12-Oct-04

PARAGUAY

Paraguayan Society of Family Medicine /

IBEROAMERICANA

Sociedad Paraguaya De Medicine Familiar

1-Jan-05

LATVIA

Rural Family Doctors Association of Latvia

EUROPEAN

10-May-05

EL SALVADOR

Salvadorean Family Physicians Association /

IBEROAMERICANA

Asociacion de Medicina Familiar de El Salvador

12-May-05

VIETNAM

Vietnam Association of Family Physicians

ASIA PACIFIC

27-May-05

IRAQ

Iraqi Family Physicians Society

MIDDLE EAST

SOUTH ASIA

27-May-05

MYANMAR

General Practitioners’ Society, Myanmar

ASIA PACIFIC

19-Dec-05

LUXEMBOURG

Societé Scientifique Luxembourgeoise de Médecine Générale

Luxemburgish Scientific Society for General Practice

EUROPEAN

18-Feb-06

NETHERLANDS

The Network: Towards Unity for Health

COLLABORATIVE

18-Feb-06

UNITED

Emirates Medical Assocation,

MIDDLE EAST

ARAB EMIRATESThe Family Medicine Section PO Box 6600

SOUTH ASIA

10-Oct-06

CANADA

The Section of Teachers & Section of Researchers, CFPC

NORTH AMERICA

10-Oct-06

CUBA

Cuban Societry of Family Medicine/

IBEROAMERICANA

Sociedad Cubana de Medicina Familiar

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

Readers Find Great Value

in Global Family Doctor -

Wonca Online

What a great survey response.

Doctors and other health

professionals from 69 countries

answered our request for feedback

on the Global Family Doctor website.

Most were doctors, but nurses and

other health professionals also

responded. Most responses came

from the USA and Australia, followed

by New Zealand and Canada. We

were delighted to receive responses

from so many countries around the

globe.

The full list of countries in

alphabetical order: Andorra,

Argentina, Australia, Austria,

Bahamas, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil,

Brunei, Canada, China, Chile,

Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador,

Finland, Fiji, France, Germany,

Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland,

Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait,

Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya,

Lithuania, Mexico, Nepal,

Netherlands, Nevis, New Zealand,

Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway,

Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Papua

New Guinea, Peru, Philippines,

Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Romania,

Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and

Montenegro, Singapore, Slovenia,

Spain, South Africa, Sweden,

Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand,

Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey,

Venezuela, Uruguay, United Arab

Emirates, United Kingdom, United

States of America.

The main reason for visiting

Global Family Doctor was Journal

Alerts (90%). Other reasons included

conference information, Wonca

information, and other medical

information. The survey indicates

that 37% of users visit Global Family

Doctor daily, 55% weekly. Survey

results showed that 85% said Global

Family Doctor usually or always

gave them what they needed.

Journal Alerts were rated

valuable or very valuable by 94% of

the readers. The Chronic Respiratory

Diseases series was rated valuable

or very valuable by 42% of readers

and another 31% of some value. The

Educational Resource Centre was

rated valuable or very valuable by

43% of readers, and 32% of some

value

Information presented in other

than English was rated especially

valuable. Of those from Spanish

speaking countries, 82% rated

Journal Alerts in Spanish as valuable

or very valuable. Of those from

Portuguese speaking countries, 85%

said POEMs in Portuguese were

valuable or very valuable. If credits

for online CME were available at

Global Family Doctor, 32% said they

would use them regularly, and

another 40% occasionally.

Two recommendations were

repeated a number of times: 1)

archiving and organizing published

articles for easy search and retrieval,

and 2) translating the journal alerts

into other languages.

Here are just a sampling of the

feedback we received from the

reader survey:

• “Unlike most other collections of

articles in medical journals

around the world, Global Family

Doctor emphasizes the needs of

GPs and family doctors.”

• “As with anyone, my time is

precious. The Journal Alerts

however often bring to my

attention items that I might not

otherwise look up, yet they are

still very relevant.”

• “Unlike most other collections of

articles in medical journals

around the world, Global Family

Doctor emphasizes the needs of

family doctors.”

• “Staying up-to date about family

practice research when I am

always ages behind with all the

journals, so the Journal Alerts

with the easy link to the articles

are helpful.”

• From a practice nurse: “I read

the Journal Alerts each day for

my General Practitioner and let

him know what articles are

available.”

• “Thanks to the Editors - please

note that many doctors in poor

countries of the world are

reading Global Family Doctor

because it is useful and free.

• “I am receiving information from

Journal Alerts which is evidence-

based and illustrated very well.”

• “I use this information with my

resident and students to prepare

actual lecture clubs.”

Wes Fabb

Jim Vause

Stephen Wilkinson

Linda French

Global Family Doctor Medical Editors

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

Date joined

Country

Name of Organization

Mbr* type

Wonca Region

Wonca

10-Oct-06

NICARAGUA

Asociacion Nicaraguense de Medicina Familiar

IBEROAMERICANA

10-Oct-06

ROMANIA

National Centre for Studies in Family Medicine

EUROPEAN

10-Oct-06

SERBIA

Serbian Medical Association/ Section of General Practice

EUROPEAN

*Membership Status: F = Full, A = Associate, C = Organization in Collaborative Relations

WONCA’S WORKING

PARTIES

Wonca International

Classification Committee

The Wonca International

Classification Committee (WICC) is

the longest standing Committee of

Wonca, established along with

Wonca at the World Conference in

Medlbourne in 1972. WICC’s main

task is to develop relevant

classification for General/Family

Practice around the world.

The International Classification of

Family Medicine (ICFM ) was jointly

developed by WHO and the Wonca

Classification Committee by 1986. It

was edited by Dr Henk Lamberts

and Dr Maurice Woods after WHO

decided not to endorse the

classification and was published by

Oxford University Press in a new

agreement that gave OUP the

exclusive publishing rights to the

printed version in the English

language. It was published as the

International Classification of

Primary Care (ICPC) under the

auspices of Wonca.

In December 2003, Wonca

received the good news that the

WHO-Family of International

Classications (FIC) Network of the

WHO Collaborating Centres had

endorsed ICPC as a member of the

WHO-FIC. They had concluded that

the ICPC fulfilled the requirements

for membership as being a well

developed, well used and well

maintained product. ICPC was hence

accepted into the Family of

International Classifications as a

classification to be used for health

information registration in Primary

Care around the world.

This membership of the WHO-FIC

resulted in greater interest in ICPC

globally and enquiries began to be

received by the Wonca Secretariat

on the purchase of national rights

for the exclusive use of ICPC by

certain countries. The Wonca

Executive, based on the GDP and

GDP per capita of the country, then

established a formula for the

calculation of national licenses for

ICPC. As of 2006, ICPC has been

translated into 17 languages

globally (Chinese, Czech, Danish,

Dutch, French, Greek, German,

Japanese, Portuguese, Romanian,

Russian, Spanish, Azeri, Serbian,

Finnish, Swedish and Turkish).

WICC Chair Niels and Inga Bentzen and fellow

WICC members relax after their meeting

during the Asia Pacific Regional Conference in

Kyoto to enjoy dinner - Japanese style

As of end 2006, two national

licenses for ICPC have been

purchased from Wonca by the

governments of Belgian and Norway.

In addition, the Portuguese

Association of General Practitioners

has purchased a national license.

Several countries has expressed

interest in the English language

version of ICPC. However, with the

publishing rights residing with OUP,

Wonca was unable to make the

licenses available to these

countries.

The Wonca Executive, in 2004,

endorsed a proposal to re-acquire

the publishing rights of the English

language version of ICPC back from

OUP. After several communications

via email between the Wonca CEO

and OUP, an agreement was reached

in that OUP would return the

publishing rights back to Wonca.

This agreement was finalized in

January 2007. Henceforth, this will

allow the use of the ICPC-2e

electronic version of in a large

number of the English speaking

countries that are members of

Wonca, as the book form of the

classification could now be

produced in its entirety or as a

manual in English.

Whilst it is likely that the

national Ministries of Health of most

countries will be the agencies keen

to acquire the national licenses for

ICPC-2e, it may be a financially

rewarding and a good move if the

Member Organisations of Wonca in

these countries take the initiative of

acquiring the national license for

themselves. To encourage this,

Wonca Executive has agreed that

Wonca Member Organisations be

given a 20% rebate on the national

licensing fee. The ICPC-2e is a

Wonca product and should,

therefore, be used to benefit Wonca

Member Organisations, their family

doctors and all those who care for

our patients around the world.

In 2003, WICC published the

Wonca Dictionary of General/Family

Practice, the first international,

comprehensive dictionary for family

doctors. The Wonca Dictionary of

General/Family Practice may be

purchased through the Wonca

website:

www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com, and

select ‘publications’.

Professor Niels Bentzen

Chair, Wonca International

Classification Committee

Niels.bentzen@medisin.ntnu.no

Wonca Working Party on Rural

Practice

The 7th Wonca World Rural

Health Conference was held in

Seattle, Washington, USA from

September 8-13, 2006, and a post-

conference was held in Anchorage

and Talkeetna, Alaska, USA from

September 14-16. The Seattle

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

portion of the conference was divided into a section on

education, policy and research for rural practice and a

second section of continuing medical education for

clinical aspects of rural practice.

Since Seattle and the University of Washington

School of Medicine are the home of the WWAMI medical

education program (WWAMI stands for Washington,

Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho), we established the

conference theme of “Transforming Rural Practice

Through Education”. Over 200 family physicians from

more than 20 countries attended the Seattle meetings,

and 40 of the physicians went on to the Alaska

sessions. In keeping with the cultural themes of prior

Rural Wonca meetings, the opening ceremonies included

traditional dances by Native Americans and a ceremonial

blessing by a Native elder.

Yakima Native American

Dance Club members

performing traditional dances

during the opening session

of the 7th Wonca World Rural

Health Conference

The opening plenary was oriented toward

overarching issues that impact rural family medicine.

Plenary sessions for the next two days focused on

addressing worldwide shortages of rural family

physicians and creating new, rurally leaning medical

schools:

• “Attracting Future Rural Practitioners to Health Care:

The Experience on Two Continents” by Roger

Strasser, MD, Northern Ontario Medical School

• “The Disturbing Evidence From the U.S.” by Robert

Bowman, MD, University of Nebraska

• “An African Perspective” by Ian Couper, MD,

University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

• “The European Story - Networks” by Christos Lionis,

MD, Department of Social Medicine, University of

Crete

• “The Asian Experience” by Fortunato Cristobal, MD,

Zamboanga Medical School, Phillipines

• “The Australian Experience” by Paul Worley, MBBS,

Flinders University Rural Clinical School, Adelaide,

Australia

• “The Canadian Experience” by James Rourke, MD,

Dean of Medicine Memorial University of

Newfoundland, Canada

Following the policy, education, and research portion

of the conference, the guests attended two days of

clinical continuing medical education as part of the 36th

annual Family Practice Update at the University of

Washington. At the conclusion of the CME program, forty

physicians and guests traveled to Alaska for an

outstanding “post-conference” that included tours of the

Alaska Native Medical Center, the Sunshine Clinic (a

rural community health center), and a stay at the

Talkeetna Lodge, near Denali National Park.

Overall, the meetings were successful and were

enjoyed by the rural family doctors who attended. The

next Rural Wonca World Conference is being planned for

Nigeria in 2008.

Tom E. Norris, MD

Chair, Host Organizing Committee

James Rourke, MD

Chair, Wonca Working Party on Rural Practice

Wonca Working Party on Women in Family

Medicine

In August 2006, twenty-five leading women

physicians from 16 countries and all six Wonca regions

(Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Canada,

Colombia, Ecuador, Nepal, Nigeria, Netherlands Antilles,

Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda,

United States of America and Venezuela) met at

McMaster University, Hamilton and Canada. They were

all members of the Wonca Working Party on Women and

Family Medicine (WWPWFM), who came together to

further discussion on how to achieve and maintain

gender equity within the World Organisation of Family

Doctors (Wonca).

The WWPWFM group carefully formulated the

Hamilton Equity Recommendations - The HER Statement,

a policy statement on gender equity, which is the

historic record signed by the 25 participants on August

24, 2006.

The WWPWFM urges the general practice/family

medicine organizations of the world that are constituted

as the World Organization of National Colleges,

Academies and Academic Associations of General

Practitioners/Family Physicians (Wonca) to adopt the

following fundamental recommendations regarding

gender equity:

1. Enshrine the principle of gender equity within Wonca

governance by amending the Wonca bylaws and

Regulations, as proposed by the WWPWFM.

2. Implement gender equity in all activities of Wonca, in

particular the scientific programs of its triennial,

regional, and rural meetings.

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

3. Promulgate the pivotal role of gender as a key

determinant of health.

4. Promote the equitable inclusion and advancement of

women general practitioners/family physicians in

Wonca.

The HER Statement has been widely circulated by the

25 signatories to their home organizations, and it has

already been adopted by some countries family

medicine/general practice organizations. The HER

Statement is available in English and Spanish.

The 25 participants of the WWPWFM in Hamilton:

Back Row: Linda French, USA; Nandani de Silva, Sri Lanka; Anne D

Atai-Omoruto, Republic of Uganda; Ruth Stewart, Australia; Sarah

Strasser, Canada; Barbara Lent, Canada; May Cohen, Canada; Kate

Anteyi, Nigeria; Elizabeth Garrett, USA; Zorayda Leopando, Philippines;

Pakistan; Somjit Prueksaritanond, Thailand; Sheila Dunn, Canada;

Marie Andrades, Pakistan; Lucy Candib, USA; Suzana Alvear, Ecuador;

First row: Sue Smith, Nepal; Jan Coles, Australia; Cheryl Levitt,

Canada; Flor Ledesma, Venezuela; Dorothy Pietersz-Janga, Neth.

Antilles; Liliana Arias-Castillo, Colombia; Marlene Joseph, Antigua and

Barbuda; Ilse Hellemann, Austria; Kymm Feldman, Canada; Michelle

Howard, Canada.

The Hamilton gathering participants deliberated

carefully regarding the wording of the HER Statement.

The operative words were chosen to explicitly

recommend that the gender equity standard within

Wonca now be set at least as high as the minimal

standards that have already been enshrined in the

major international instruments concerning gender

equity and the affirmative advancement of women and

girl children in all spheres of human development.

These international instruments, which include the

Beijing Platform and the UN Millennium Development

Goals, are not merely pious inspirational and desirable

aspirations for attainment at some point in the future.

Rather, they are now internationally acknowledged - in

such contexts as the UNDP, the WHO, the World Bank

and the community of international organizations

concerned with human progress of which they and

Wonca are part - to reflect an *urgent imperative* for

concrete implementation. These minimal international

standards for gender equity and the advancement of

women are now also widely understood to be the single

most important cross-cutting strategy for overall human

progress and beneficial development.

The HER Statement participants are therefore calling

on the Wonca Executive and Council to endorse the HER

Statement and to take all necessary steps to promptly

enshrine and implement these minimal standards of

affirmative and equitable participation and advancement

of qualified women physicians in Wonca.

The working party’s website

(www.womenandfamilymedicine.com) contains the

complete rendering in English and Spanish of the

Hamilton Equity Recommendations - The HER Statement

- as well as detailed information about the group’s

activities.

During the past triennium, the WWPWFM published a

monograph series that provides evidence, docu-

mentation, reports, and media coverage about the

barriers facing women family physicians. The monograph

series contains the following chapters: Women in

Organizational Medicine; Women Family Physicians In

The Doctor-Patient Relationship; Women Family Doctors

Caring For Themselves And Their Families; Women In

Training (Medical School And Post-Graduate Training);

Women In Practice; and Women in Academia. Excerpts of

each chapter were published in the bimonthly issues of

Wonca News beginning with the October 2006 issue.

The complete monograph series is available on

www.womenandfamilymedicine.com.

Cheryl Levitt MBBCh

Barbara Lent MD

Lucy Candib MD

Michelle Howard MSc

Wonca Working Party on Women and Family Medicine

Wonca Working Party on Mental Health

A proposal to establish the Wonca Working Party on

Mental Health (formerly the Special Interest Group on

Psychiatry and Neurology) was approved by the Wonca

Executive during its October 2006 meeting in Buenos

Aries. The Wonca Working Party on Mental Health

(WWPMH) will serve as a focus for the development of

mental health issues for Wonca worldwide. This Working

Party provides the opportunity for the discipline of

Primary Care Mental Health to become a priority for

Wonca and the Wonca family, especially as mental

health issues have a major impact on our day-to-day

care of our patients.

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES

The mission and vision of the Working Party on

Mental Health is to improve mental health care around

the world by providing a universal gold standard of care

for mental health through empowerment of primary care

and in collaboration with all interested stakeholders.

WWPMH members (from

left to right), Henk

Parmentier, Laura Pouge,

Gabriel Ivbijaro, and Lucja

Kolkiewicz presenting at

the World Psychiatry

Conference in Istanbul,

Turkey in July 2006

Current objectives are to:

• Promote standards of excellence in the primary care

management of mental health, consistent with

patient and professional values and with reference to

evidence based health care;

• Promote the concept of mental health & well-being;

• Develop and promote mental health research in

primary care and the primary care - mental health

interface

• Hold scientific meetings, which may include sessions

and workshops, to present original papers and to

address broader educational issues through

discussion, training and debate during Wonca

Regional and World conferences;

• Promote and develop patient information about

mental health issues;

• Develop and promote appropriate literature for

primary care professionals using a variety of

resources, including Wonca Online;

• Promote the discipline of primary care mental health

world-wide through collaborative working within

Wonca, NGO’s, government organisations, patient

groups & other medical colleges;

• Address the issue of stigma associated with mental

health conditions.

We plan to undertake the following activities:

• Guideline development and scientific presentations

on mental health issues

• Advice to Wonca and its member organizations on

mental health issues

• Participation in Wonca activities and conferences

• Working with WHO to develop a resource book on

the integration of mental health into primary care

• Provision of a regular Working Party newsletter and

educational materials

• Supporting the mental health curriculum in primary

care education

• Organising regular online Primary Care Mental Health

Grand Rounds

• Developing and supporting postgraduate

accreditation programmes for General Practitioners

with a special interest in mental health

The WWPMH is soliciting representation from

individuals interested in improving mental health

standards from our member Colleges and all Wonca

regions. If you would like to support or contribute to

this Working Party please register your interest by

contacting me.

Dr Gabriel Ivbijaro

Chair, Working Party on Mental Health

gabriel.ivbijaro@gmail.com

WONCA

News

FEATURE STORIES / REGIONAL NEWS

REGIONAL NEWS

WONCA TRIENNIUM REGIONAL

HIGHLIGHTS

Wonca’s six regions were active during the past

triennium. The following are some of the regional

highlights since the 17th World Wonca Conference in

Orlando.

Wonca Europe Regional Conference - Greece,

September 2005

More than 2,000 attended the 11th Annual Wonca

Europe Regional Conference. The Conference was

organized on the island of Kos, the homeland of

Hippocrates, who was the founder of rational medicine,

The overall theme of the Conference, was “From

Hippocrates to the Human Genome: The Past, Present

and Future of General Practice/Family Medicine.”

Wonca Europe family doctors celebrate Greek style in Kos

WONCA

News

REGIONAL NEWS

The climax of the Conference was the pageant and

Hippocratic Oath taking during the closing ceremony

held at the Asclepion, the site where Hippocrates

practiced and taught his pupils in ancient Greece.

Iberoamericana-CIMF Family Medicine Summit -

Chile, October 2005

Wonca Iberoamericana-CIMF organized its second

Summit that took place in Santiago de Chile in October

4-5, 2005. The Summit continued the process of

“sensitization” of decision makers from the region

towards the development of Family Medicine, initiated in

the first Summit held in Seville in May, 2002. This

meeting was chaired by the Minister of Health of the

Republic of Chile and with the presence of several

ministers and deputy ministers of the Region, the

President of Wonca, the President elect and the CEO,

high officers of PAHO/WHO and Barbara Starfield as a

keynote speaker. Participants included more than 200

Iberoamerican policy makers, primary care academicians

and representatives and delegates of the national

associations of the Wonca Iberoamericana-CIMF

After two hard working days, participants agreed

upon a document containing 10 recommendations to

foster family medicine and primary care as the central

level of health care systems in Latin America. The 10

recommendations were signed under the “Compromisos

de Santiago de Chile”.

At the Cumbre Iberoamericana de Medicina Familiar - Iberoamerican

Summit on Family Medicine in Santiago, Chile. From left to right:

Bruce Sparks (Wonca President), Adolfo Rubinstein (Wonca

Iberoamericana-CIMF Regional President), Pedro Garcia Aspillaga

(Minister of Health of Chile), Oscar Fernandez (Chair of the Summit),

Hernan Montenegro (Chief of the Unit of Health Services, PAHO/WHO)

This Report represents a major advance for family

medicine in Latin America. Starting from a very weak

position, family physicians constitute much less than

50% of the physician supply in most countries. The

financing and organization of health services work

against rather than for primary care principles. Given

that situation, the “Compromisos de Santiago de Chile”

represent consensus, commitment (‘compromisos’) and

promises to place primary care in a central role in order

to enhance the effectiveness, equity and efficiency of

health services.

Wonca Americas Region Council Meeting -

Canada, December 2005

On December 8, 2005, the Wonca Americas Region

Council met in Vancouver, British Columbia 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).

Doctors Alfred Loh (CEO), Chris Van Weel (President

Elect), Richard Roberts (Treasurer) and Dan Ostergaard

(Chair, Bylaws Committee) represented the Wonca World

Executive. Attendees also included Doctors Cheryl Levitt

(CoChair - Wonca Working Party Women and Family

Medicine), and Edwina Yen (Pan American Health

Organization).

The Council agreed to recommend to Wonca

Executive that the name “Wonca North America Region”

replace the “Wonca Americas Region” to better reflect

the region that now has member organizations from the

United States, Canada and the non-Spanish speaking

Caribbean Islands.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Conference - Japan

May, 2005

This was the largest Wonca regional conference ever

for the Asia-Pacific Region with over 2300 registrants,

including a large overseas delegation from 50 countries

as far as Europe and the Americas. The Conference was

graced by the presence of Their Imperial Highnesses

Prince and Princess Akishino of Japan at the Official

Opening of the Conference, a significant development

for Family Medicine in Japan.

WONCA

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REGIONAL NEWS

Host Organizating Committees from the Asia-Pacific Regional and Singapore meet in Kyoto.

From left to right: Miss Jace Phang (CFPS Secretariat, Singapore), Dr Chng Woei (Singapore HOC

2007 Committee), A/Prof Goh Lee Gan (Asia Pacific Regional President), Dr Tan Sze Wee

(Singapore HOC 2007 Committee), Dr Tsukasa Tsuda (Chairperson, HOC Wonca Kyoto 2005), Dr

Makoto Komatasu (Honorary Chairperson, HOC Wonca Kyoto 2005), Miss Mariko Sunaba

(Conference Organiser, Wonca Kyoto 2005)

The Conference was also the venue for Wonca to announce to its

members the release of the International Primary Airways Group (IPAG)

Handbook with members of the international press attending the press

release and during which all conference delegates at the event were given

free copies of the Handbook.

The Regional Council Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Region as well as a

meeting of the Wonca International Classification Committee took place a

day before the Conference to take advantage of the presence of

representatives from the various Wonca Member Organizations in the

Region. A full Wonca Executive Meeting was also held three days prior to the

Conference date and some Members of Executive were able to stay on after

the meeting to represent Wonca at the various official functions of the

Conference. An invitational post conference workshop was also held for

delegates from the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Middle-East South Asia Regional Conference - Sri Lanka,

November 2005

This was the second MESA Regional Conference to be hosted by the Sri

Lanka College of General Practitioners. About 300 registrants attended from

the various member countries of MESA and as far as England, Australia and

New Zealand. The Regional President and the CEO represented Wonca

World.

At the Opening Ceremony, the CEO presented a cheque of US $24,000

(equivalent to 2.4 million Sri Lanka Rupees) to the Sri Lanka College on

behalf of the University of Nehmegen and the Dutch College in aid of the

Tsunami Relief Fund. This fund was set up by the Sri Lanka College to help

rebuild the lives of those affected by the disaster.

A large contingent from India

attended the Conference.

Discussions were held between the

Regional President, the CEO and

these delegates on how best to

have India’s family doctors and its

organizations more involved in

Wonca.

Professor Khaya Mfenyana

Named Africa Regional President

- May 2006

Professor Khaya Mfenyana was

elected as President of the Africa

Region following the resignation of

Abra Fransch, who served with great

distinction as Africa Region

President from 2001. Dr Fransch

moved from Zimbabwe to Australia

and was no longer able to continue

to serve in the role. Professor Khaya

(pronounced KY-A) Mfenyana will

serve the remainder of the three-

year term as Regional President

Professor Mfenyana, a member

of the South Africa Academy of

Family Practice, is a humble and

jovial man with grassroots origins in

the Transkei who has risen to

numerous leadership positions in

academia, practice and his

profession. Khaya is Founder and

Chair of the Department of Family

Medicine at the University of

Transkei, Director of several primary

care clinics in the area, and

President of FAMEC, the Consortium

of Departments of Family Medicine

in South Africa. He also has a

leadership role in the East African

Project, a major Wonca collaborative

project to improve family medicine

education, practice and health care

delivery in East Africa. He was a

Kellogg Foundation Fellow and was

on the Executive Committee of The

Network - Towards Unity for Health.

WONCA

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REGIONAL NEWS

Three Year FaMEC Africa Project Meeting -

Uganda, June 2006

The leadership of the Family Medicine Education

Consortium (FaMEC) project met in Kampala, Uganda

from 15th-16th June 2006 to inaugurate the FaMEC Africa

project and introduce it to the participating countries

and institutions. The main purpose of the FaMEC Project

is to develop and strengthen training in Family

Medicine/Primary Health Care in Southern and Eastern

Africa, in order to contribute to the realisation of quality

and equitable health care in the region. The countries

involved in the project are: South Africa, Tanzania,

Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and

Rwanda.

A happy group of hard-working colleagues representing

8 countries in East and Southern Africa

The project duration is three years, through April

2009. Four major results are expected in a period of 3

years: 1) A definition of the concept of Family Medicine

within an African context including the vision and

strategy for implementation; 2) The development of

strategies that are necessary to obtain more horizontal

integration of vertical programmes involving the

community; 3) The formation of a strong, high quality

Family Medicine training programme through sharing of

experiences and resources with the participating

institutions; and 4) The creation of a Family Medicine

education consortium for Africa, with clearly identified

membership and links to organisations with

complementary missions.

The Flemish Inter-university Council approved a three

year, 310,000 EU grant to foster newly developing

programs of family medicine in East Africa through the

FaMEC Africa Project. 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).

The meeting was attended by representatives from 7

Departments of Family Medicine in South Africa (Walter

Sisulu University, Stellenbosch University, University of

Pretoria, University of Limpopo, University of Free State,

University of Cape Town, University of Witwatersrand),

Makerere and Mbarara Universities in Uganda, Univesity

of Goma in DRC, Moi University in Kenya, Ghent

University in Belgium, Ghets, Inter-University Council for

East Africa, FaMEC Regional Coordinators for Southern

and Eastern Africa, and President of Wonca Africa.

Support is provided throught the Global Health

Through Education Training and Service, Department of

Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Ghent

University, Belgium. Envisaged links are with the Wonca

Africa Region, the Inter University Council for East Africa

(IUCEA), Towards Unity for Health (TUFH), and the World

Health Organisation (WHO).

12th Wonca Europe Regional Conference - Italy,

August 2006

A total of 3,414 family doctors and other participants

from Europe and 64 different countries around the world

attended the 12th Wonca Europe Regional Conference,

held August 24-27 in Florence, Italy. It is one of the

best results in the history of Wonca. The attendance

during the sessions was very high, and the delegates

filled the conference with an enthusiastic atmosphere.

Florence was certainly a perfect venue for the

conference theme, “Towards a Medical Renaissance:

Bridging the Gap Between Biology and the Humanities”.

A total of 1292 abstracts were presented or shared,

perhaps one of the biggest result in the history of

Wonca international conferences. The conference was

organized in 6 topics each one with a key note and a

main workshop in the plenary room. These were:

Research, Education, Biology and Humanities, Quality,

Risk and Safety and Caring for the World. The

participants left the conference with the correct

impression that General Practice/Family Medicine is a

very dynamic branch of medicine and that so many

family doctors are contributing new ideas and significant

advances to medicine, health systems and people’s

health.

The Florence Conference was an interesting occasion

to start a discussion between the Research Working

Party, chaired by Walter Rosser, and EGPRN, the network

that is part of the Wonca European Executive dealing

with research. During the conference, a one-day meeting

was dedicated to the Wonca Research Working Party.

Two subsequent workshops showed what has already

been done and what is possible to do in the future.

Particular attention was paid to the building of research

capability mostly in developing countries.

Thanks to the Organizing Commitee, from left to right: Giorgio

Visentin, Sergio Bernabé, Chris Van Weel, Pino Parisi, Guido Danti,

Roberto Della Vedova, Massimo Tombesi, Tiziana Galopin.

During the Wonca Europe Regional Conference in

Florence in August, President Igor Svab presented Sam

Everington with the Wonca-Europe Excellence in Health

Care: the 5 Star Doctor Award.

Known by “Dr. Sam” in his local community at

Bromley-by-Bow in London. Sam has been working for

more than 20 years as a GP principal in a health centre

used by the United Kingdom government as a model for

“Health Living Centers”. Bromley-by-Bow is one of the

most deprived areas in the country with multiple social

problems. The Health Living Centers pioneer a new

approach to health care, integrating general

practitioners and other health professionals with

community projects - linking health with education and

enterprise, environment with training and family support

- serving as a focus for the energy and ability for the

local community and helping regenerate the area. The

health center is an art gallery, community centre, public

park, a café, a nursery, a community cinema and a GP

practice all rolled into one. The centre is a unique

partnership between the private, public and voluntary

sector. The health centre reflects the ethnicity of its

locality, with four out of 10 patients form the Bengali

community Dr. Sam believes in a holistic health

approach, that you cannot separate patient health from

their environment, employment, housing, education and

mental well being.

Exec Approves Wonca North America Region Name

- October 2006

Wonca Executive approved the new name of the

Wonca North America Region to replace the Wonca

Americas Region to better reflect the region that now

has member organizations from the United States,

Canada and the non-Spanish speaking Caribbean

Islands. The newly named Wonca North America Region

will also help distinguish this region from the recently

established sixth Wonca region, Iberoamericana-CIMF,

which includes member organizations from Central and

South America.

Iberoamericana-CIMF’s Regional - Argentina,

October 2006

More than 2300 delegates from 30 countries

inaugurated the First Wonca CIMF Iberoamericana

Regional Congress of Family Medicine, October 11-14, in

Buenos Aires, Argentina. All the region was represented

with delegates from: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile,

Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuator, El Salvador, Spain, Mexico,

Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto

Rico, Republica Dominicana, Uruguay, Venezuela and

Argentina At the same time, delegates from Denmark,

USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, Czech Republic, Slovenia,

Lebanon, Israel, Holland and Singapore were present in

our country to be witnesses of a wonderful Congress.

Host Organizing Committee Chair

Sergio Solmesky offers a toast

during the evening gala,

accompanied by Iberoamericana-

CIMF President Adolfo Rubinstein

(right) and Wonca World

President-elect Chris van Weel

(left)

The theme “Building a Primary Care Centered Health

System, the Role of the Family Physician”, was explored

by the opening plenary panel of Dr. Barbara Starfield,

who lectured on the Global Imperatives for Primary Care,

followed by Prof. Chris van Weel, who explained the

Worldwide Challenges for Family Medicine, and finally

the Minister of Health of Argentina, Dr. Gines González

García, who described prominent aspects about Primary

Care in Argentina.

WONCA

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REGIONAL NEWS

Asia Pacific Research Workshop:

Thailand, November 2006

This research workshop held in

Bangkok on 7 November 2006 was

a follow-up of the Wonca Kingston

Conference recommendations in

March 2003 on “Improving Health

Globally and the Need for Primary

Care Research”. Following the

Kingston Conference, Asia Pacific

took the momentum to organize a

research meeting in Phuket,

Thailand in July 2004 and in

Genting, Malaysia in February 2005

to initiate the Research Network of

the Asia Pacific.

Left to Right: Asia Pacific Research Meeting

participants: (Standing from left to right)

Professor Goh Lee Gan, Professor Chris

vanWeel, Professor Michael Kidd, Dr Daniel M

Thuraiapah, (sitting) Professor Justin Bielby,

Professor Somjit Prueksaritanond,

Dr Zailinawati Abu Hassan.

The title of the workshop was

“Research networks in Asia Pacific

region, where are we and how do

we go from here?” Professor Goh

Lee Gan, the Regional President for

WONCA Asia Pacific, served as chair.

He was also a speaker (from

Singapore). The other speakers

were: Professor Somjit

Prueksaritanond (Thailand),

Dr Zailinawati Abu Hassan

(Malaysia), Professor Justin Bielby

(Australia) and Professor Chris van

Weel (Netherlands). This was

followed by a lively discussion. This

cross-borders workshop provided a

variety of discussions, research

proposals and recommendations to

strengthen the research network.

Asia Pacific Regional Conference

- Thailand, November 2006

The 15th Wonca Asia Pacific

Regional Conference was held for

the first time in Bangkok, Thailand

from November 5-9. The General

Practitioners/ Family Physicians

Association, Thailand and the Royal

College of Family Physicians of

Thailand hosted the conference.

The theme of this meeting was

“Happy and Healthy Family”. The

plenary speakers and meeting

participants discussed how family

doctors, along with physicians,

dentists, nurses, pharmacists, public

health personnel and all health-care

workers, can work closely together

properly treat illness, prevent and

control diseases, and promote

health for all. The meeting provided

many opportunities to bring

together family doctor teams in

urban and rural areas, sharing their

experiences and learning from

experts as well as fostering

partnerships in the region.

HEALTH AND HEALTH

SYSTEM NEWS

WONCA ATTENDS THE

WORLD HEALTH

ASSEMBLY

Wonca is recognised as one of

over 180 “Nongovernmental

Organisations” in official relations

with the World Health Organization

(WHO)” and is the recognised

Nongovernmental Organisation for

family medicine. This is valued

recognition of the importance to

global health of family medicine and

the recognised role of Wonca. In

this role Wonca can advocate for

primary care and for the role of

family doctors in ensuring strong

primary medical care in each of the

countries of the world.

The WHO is the authority on

international health within the

United Nations’ system. Its Director-

General leads the WHO. WHO

experts produce health guidelines

and standards, and assist countries

to address public health issues.

Through the WHO, governments can

jointly address global and regional

and local health problems and work

together to improve the well-being

of the people of the world.

The World Health Assembly is the

annual meeting of the repre-

sentatives of the 193 countries and

two associate members that make

up the membership of the WHO.

Each national delegation usually

includes that nation’s Minister for

Health and other senior government

members and senior Health

Department bureaucrats. The

assembly meets each year to set

policy for the WHO, to approve the

WHO budget and, every five years,

to appoint the Director-General. The

34-member Executive Board that is

elected by the Assembly supports

the work of the World Health

Assembly. There are also six

regional committees which focus on

health matters of a regional nature.

Non-government organisations in

official relations with the WHO,

including Wonca, are invited to

attend the annual World Health

Assembly as observers.

The World Health Assembly is

held in the main United Nations

assembly hall in the Palace of

Nations in Geneva. The hall is

enormous. The delegations from

each of the 192 member nations are

situated at tables on the main floor.

Representatives from other

organisations and the media sit in

the tiers of balconies.

WONCA

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REGIONAL NEWS / HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS

WONCA

News

HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS

This year’s World Health Assembly was the first

smoke free assembly in the 60-year history of the WHO.

This was a welcome although very overdue initiative.

Each of the offices within the WHO has a booth in

the public areas of the Palace of Nations and WHO staff

members are present during the Assembly to discuss

the important programs of the organisation.

A new Director General

Dr Margaret Chan was appointed as the new WHO

Director General four months ago, following the sudden

death of her predecessor Dr Lee Jong-Wook at the time

of the World Health Assembly in 2006. Attendees and

the world’s media were eager to hear the address of the

new Director General and her leadership plans for the

coming years. Dr Chan’s address was full of optimism

and determination.

Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director General

The main focus of Dr Chan’s address was on Primary

Health Care. This is a refocus in direction for the WHO

and could be welcome news for primary care and family

medicine and lead to significant changes to benefit the

health care of many of the world’s most at risk

populations.

Dr Chan outlined her six-item agenda for the future

with a focus on health development, health security,

strengthening health systems, using evidence to define

strategies and measure results, managing partnerships

to get the best results in each country, and improving

the performance of the WHO. Dr Chan reminded

delegates that the very first WHO World Health

Assembly, in 1948, agreed on six priorities for

international action: sexually transmitted disease,

malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health,

environmental sanitation, and nutrition. If you replace

sexually transmitted diseases with HIV/AIDS, these are

now the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

Dr Chan also reminded delegates of how much as

changed since 1948 with the change of disease burden

especially due to HIV/AIDS and the impact of chronic

diseases which now impose their greatest burden in

low- and middle-income countries.

2008 will be the 60

anniversary of the WHO and

the 30

anniversary of the Declaration of Alma Ata. The

big news for Wonca Member Organisations from the

Director General’s address is her intention to have

primary health care as the focus on the 2008 World

Health Report and also as the theme for World Health

Day in 2008. Dr Chan spoke about her intention to

place renewed emphasis on primary health care as an

approach to strengthening health systems. She spoke

about the need for integrated service delivery to

support universal access to health care. She spoke

about a commitment to equity being central to the

value system of primary health care. She spoke about

the need for the WHO’s horizontal and vertical programs

to work better together. She advised that several

countries will be holding international and regional

conferences to share their experiences with primary

health care. She spoke about the WHO looking at the

reality of health systems and services already in

existence, including the traditional medicine of many

parts of the world.

This focus on primary health care is a welcome

announcement from the Director General. Although

there was no mention of how primary medical care, and

specifically family medicine and general practice, might

fit into the plans of the WHO, it is clear that Wonca and

our member organisations will have a role to play and

that it is possible that joint initiatives between Wonca

and the WHO will have the opportunity to be included

in the showcase of the 2008 WHO World Health Report.

The Secretary General also spoke about the need for

reliable health data and statistics as the foundation of

health policies, strategies, evaluation and monitoring,

and as the foundation for sound health information for

the general public. She spoke about wishing to have the

WHO help countries make maximum use of advances in

information technology.

The Secretary General identified the health of two

populations as indicators of the overall performance of

the WHO: the people of Africa and women. She advised

that Africa’s health ministers, under the leadership of the

African Union, have approved the continent’s first

overarching health strategy. The strategy acknowledges

that Africa will not experience economic growth until the

burden of infectious diseases is reduced, and that there

is an urgent need to strengthen health systems to

deliver essential health interventions to those in need.

The strategy also emphasizes the need to revitalize the

primary health care approach, and calls for a minimum

package of core interventions that can be made

available to all.

The Secretary General also spoke

about the need to provide

opportunities to women to improve

their economic status with an

expectation that health-promoting

behaviours will follow. The WHO will

look at evidence of the impact of

microfinancing schemes on women’s

health and will conduct an inventory

of initiatives that affect the health of

girls and women throughout the life

course. All programs of the WHO will

be asked to collect and report data

disaggregated by sex.

The Secretary General also stated

that she looks forward to the

findings and recommendations of

the Commission on Social

Determinants of Health, which will

be made available next year, and

which will also be a feature of the

Wonca 2007 World Council meeting.

The report is expected to provide

the WHO with a better idea of what

needs to be done to promote equal

access to health services for all

people, irrespective of gender or

social or economic backgrounds.

I spend so much time outlining

the Secretary General’s address

because this is what will drive so

much of the work of the WHO over

the coming years of her tenure.

Wonca and our member

organisations need to be aware of

the focus of the WHO and the

opportunities to work with the WHO

at a global, regional and national

level to support access to strong

systems of primary health care for

all people in the world.

The World Health Assembly

Agenda

The agenda of topics discussed

(and more importantly the

resolutions passed) at the Assembly

was broad and much is of interest

to the core business of Wonca and

our member nations. I have

outlined many of the topics of

interest to family medicine below.

The lists provide detail of the

breadth of the work of the WHO.

The formal agenda included

resolutions on:

· Avian and pandemic influenza,

including an update on the past

year and the need for sharing of

influenza viruses and sequence

data, and the need for sharing

stockpiles of antiviral treatments

· Smallpox eradication and

whether or not to destroy variola

virus stocks

· Control of leishmaniasis

· Mechanisms for management of

potential risks to eradication of

poliomyelitis

· The fight against malaria

including the establishment of

Malaria Day

· Progress and long term planning

in tuberculosis control

· Evidence-based strategies and

interventions to reduce alcohol-

related harm

· Prevention and control of non-

communicable diseases and

implementation of a global

strategy

· An action plan for promotion and

integrated disease prevention in

oral health

· Work towards universal coverage

of maternal, newborn and child

health interventions

· Health promotion in a globalised

world

· A draft strategy on integrating

gender analysis and actions into

the work of the WHO

· A draft global plan of action for

workers’ health

· Emergency care systems as a

part of health systems

· The need to strengthen health

information systems

· WHO’s role and responsibilities

in health research

· Progress in the rational use of

medicines

· The need to support

development of better medicines

for children

· A focus on health technologies

There were also progress reports

on resolutions passed at previous

World Health Assemblies including:

· Improving the containment of

antimicrobial resistance

· Implementation of

recommendations of the World

report on violence and health

· Promotion of road safety and

traffic injury prevention

· Disability prevention,

management and rehabilitation

· Cervical cancer prevention and

control

· Sustaining the elimination of

iodine deficiency disorders

· Strengthening active and healthy

ageing

· Emergency preparedness and

response

· Reducing global measles

mortality

And there were specific technical

briefings held on a number of topics

including:

· International health security and

the implementation of

International Health Regulations

· Health and migration

· WHO Global Action Plan against

Cancer: prevent, cure, care,

management

· 20th

Anniversary of the Safe

Motherhood Initiative

· Health protection from climate

change

It was impossible to be across

the discussion on each topic.

However each morning the papers

for discussion that day are

distributed in hard copy. A full

report from the WHO on the World

Health Assembly and its resolutions

is available at: http://www.who.int/

mediacentre/events/2007/wha60/en/

index.html

WONCA

News

HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS

Wonca at the 2007 World Health

Assembly

CEO, Dr Alfred Loh, and Wonca

Liaison Person to the WHO,

Professor Michael Kidd, represented

Wonca at this year’s World Health

Assembly.

Alfred Loh and Michael Kidd at the World

Health Assembly

Meetings were held with WHO

staff involved in joint initiatives and

programs with Wonca including:

· Discussions on the future

development of Wonca’s

classification system, ICPC and

its integration with the WHO

Family of Classifications, were

held with Dr Bedirhan Ustun,

Coordinator of Classification and

Terminology with the WHO, and

Dr Robert Jakob, Medical Officer

for Measurement and Health

Information Systems.

· Discussions on Wonca’s role in

aged care and chronic disease

management were held with

Dr Alexandre Kalache,

Coordinator of the WHO Ageing

Program with the Chronic

Diseases and Health Promotion

Section and a speaker at the

2007 Wonca World Conference.

· Discussions on Wonca’s work

with the WHO on a number of

mental health projects around

the world were held with

Dr Benedetto Saraceno, Director

of the WHO Department of

Mental Health and Substance

Abuse, and Dr Michelle Funk,

Coordinator of Mental Health

Policy and Service Development.

The chair of the Wonca Mental

Health Working Party, Dr Gabriel

Ivbijaro, also attended this

meeting.

· Discussions with members of the

WHO Office for Patient Safety on

ways that Wonca can assist the

expansion of the work of the

World Patient Safety Alliance to

include a focus on safety in

primary care as well as tertiary

care.

· Discussions with representatives

of the World Medical Association

(WMA) on building future closer

linkages between Wonca and the

WMA and ways our two

organisations can work together

to promote high quality primary

medical care.

Michael Kidd

Wonca Liaison Person to the WHO

Wonca Continues Active

Collaboration With WHO

Wonca received notification from

the WHO that its Non-Governmental

Organization status with the WHO

has been renewed for another three

years. Wonca completed another

triennium of active collaboration

with the WHO. Wonca participated

in meetings of WHO governing

bodies as observers, including the

WHO Executive Board Meetings and

World Health Assemblies (see

following article). Wonca

collaborations with WHO include the

following areas:

Present and on-going activities

include:

1 The Global Alliance against

Chronic Respiratory Diseases

(GARD) – a WHO Initiative in

which Wonca is a founding

member to address the

increasing burden of respiratory

problems globally.

2 The WHO International Advisory

Group for the Revision of ICD-10

Mental and Behavioural

Disorders – a Wonca

representative, Dr Michael

Klinkman (delete - Dr Gabriel

Ivbijaro) from the Wonca Working

party on Mental Health, sits in

the Group to provide the primary

health care perspective.

3 The International Classification of

Primary Care (ICPC-2), a Wonca

product, is a member of the

WHO Family of International

Classification (FIC) - Members of

the Wonca International

Classification Committee are in

discussions with the WHO to

map the ICPC to the other

classifications in the WHO FIC

4 WHO Initiative on Social

Determinants of Health - Wonca

has Dr Jan de Maeseneer as

representative and member of

the Knowledge Network of

Health Systems in this Initiative.

5 WHO Framework on Tobacco

Control - Wonca is supporting

WHO with on-going work in

raising global awareness and

development of educational

tools for clinical practice via its

Task Force on Tobacco Cessation.

6 The Patient at the Centre of Care

Initiative of the Western Pacific

Region of WHO has the Wonca

CEO as a member of the

Reference Group to give advice

on the Initiative.

Past activities include:

1. The Wonca Guidebook:

“Improving Health Systems: The

Contribution of Family Medicine”.

This very much sought after

book was produced in

collaboration with WHO in 2001.

The Wonca Guidebook has been

disseminated to key

stakeholders that could influence

WONCA

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WONCA

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HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS / MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

MEMBER AND

ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

WES FABB RETIRES AS

GFD MEDICAL EDITOR: JIM

VAUSE ASSUMES ROLE

Wes Fabb has been Medical

Editor since the inception of Global

Family Doctor in 2001. Stephen

Wilkinson joined him in 2004, Jim

Vause in 2005, and Linda French in

2007. 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.

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.

Professor Stephen Wilkinson

Linda French, a family doctor

born in the United States who

attended medical school in Chile,

joined Global Family Doctor as

medical editor in 2007. Linda is

Professor and Chair of Family

Medicine at the University of Toledo

College of Medicine.

Dr Linda French

Professor Jim Vause 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 Royal New

Zealand College of General

Practitioners culminating in

becoming President in 2003. It was

through the College that Jim became

involved in WONCA and the GFD

work that has aligned well with his

personal interest in evidenced-based

medicine and application to

practice.

health system reform and Family

medicine development in some

100 countries, including WHO

Geneva, WHO regional offices,

Wonca Member organizations,

various academic institutions

and international organizations.

The Guidebook has been or is

being translated into Greek,

Turkish, Korean, Thai and Lao

with expressions of interest

received to translate the

Guidebook into Chinese, Arabic,

French, Russian, Mongolian,

Spanish, Japanese and

Portuguese

2. Wonca invited senior WHO

officers to present plenary

sessions at Wonca World

Conferences, including

Dr Tim Evans, Assistant Director-

General for Evidence and

Information on Policy, at the

Wonca World Conference,in

Orlando in October 2004; and

Dr Shigeru Omi, Regional

Director WPRO, at the Wonca

Asia Pacific Regional Conference,

Kyoto, May 2005. Dr Shigeru

Omi, will also be a speaker at

the Wonca World Conference,

Singapore in July 2007

Alfred Loh

Chief Executive Officer

World Organization of Family

Doctors

Editor’s Note – Article to be

submitted on “Wonca Attends the

World Health Assembly Meeting.

Professor Jim Vause

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 half time in his 4-doctor

practice which his wife, Ruth,

manages. Ruth is also a board

member for their local District

Health Board.

Jim Vause has been appointed

Medical Editor to replace Wes Fabb

who will retire from GFD in July.

For Wes and his wife Marian,

their “elusive retirement” will finally

arrive and mark the end of a

remarkable family physician’s career

that has been a part of Wonca’s

journey since its establishment in

Melbourne, Australia in 1972.

Marian and Wes Fabb at their seaside home

at Inverloch, on the south coast of mainland

Australia

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.

In 1972, Wes was part of a host

organizing committee for the Fifth

World Conference on General

Practice in Melbourne, Australia.

This is generally considered the first

Wonca World Conference, where the

Constitution and Bylaws establishing

Wonca were adopted.

In 1973, Wes was appointed

Director of Education of the

College’s vocational training

programme, the Family Medicine

Programme. During the 1970’s Wes

became active on Wonca’s Executive

Committee, serving as Honorary

Secretary/Treasurer.

In 1981, Wes established for the

Wonca Executive a Secretariat to

support the organization in the

offices of the Royal Australian

College of General Practitioners in

Melbourne, Victoria. From an initial

workload of one-half day per week,

Wes expanded the Secretariat as

Wonca’s workload grew during the

1980s and 1990s.

From 1993 to 1997, Wes moved

the Secretariat to Hong Kong, where

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 its Chief Executive

Officer. In 2001, after 20 years at its

helm, Wes retired as Wonca’s CEO,

only to lead the development of

Global Family Doctor - Wonca Online

until his true retirement in July,

2007.

Wes 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.

IFPCRN MARKS SIX YEARS OF

OPERATION: ELECTS NEW

CHAIR

The International Federation of

Primary Care Research Networks was

organized under Wonca’s Committee

on Research at the meeting in

Durban, South Africa, in 2001. It was

established with the mission to

support research for primary health

care for the benefit of patients by:

the mutual support of research

networks; the exchange of ideas

and methodologies; advocacy for

the quality of research in primary

care; capacity building; policy and

advocacy initiatives; and doing

collaborative research.

John Beasley, MD, (USA) was

selected as the founding chair of

the IFPCRN. The IFPCRN established

a list server (with special thanks to

Wes Fabb) and now has 153 users.

Francisco Gomez-Clavelina (Mexico)

developed the web site

www.ifpcrn.org which is also

accessible through

www.globalfamilydoctor.com. Mary

Stone and Jim Bobula (USA) helped

develop and maintain the database

which now lists 153 members

representing 53 networks from 45

different countries. Dr. Gomez-

Clavelina also took responsibility for

publishing our newsletter - also

available at www.ifpcrn.org.

John Beasley,

Founding Chair

IFPCRN 2001-2007

WONCA

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MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

Francisco Gomez-

Clavelina, Chair

IPPCRN 2007-2010

To facilitate governance and

communications we developed a

regional structure and were most

pleased to have volunteers step

forward to assume the roles of

Regional Representatives. These are:

Victor Inem (Africa), Cindy C.K. Lam

(Far East), Christos Lionis and Danica

Rotar (Europe), Donna Manca (North

America), Waris Qidwai (South Asia)

and Francisco Gomez-Clavelina (Ibero

America).

In May, 2007, Francisco Gomez-

Clavelina from Mexico was elected

new chair. The IFPCRN holds formal

meetings and presents at most

Wonca conferences, including Wonca

World, Wonca Europe, North

American Primary Care Research

Group and other venues as

resources permit.

CHRIS VAN WEEL AWARDED

PRESTIGIOUS NETHERLANDS

AWARD

Wonca President-elect Chris van

Weel was bestowed in Nijmegen,

The Netherlands, by the Mayor of

the city on behalf of her Majesty the

Queen, “The Officer of the Order of

Oranje Nassau” because of

contributions to family medicine/

primary care. This special national

honor was given in recognition of

his University of Nijmegen research

program in ‘evidence based clinical

practice’, his development of the

University network of family

practices in the Nijmegen region,

and for his international family

medicine leadership through Wonca.

Wonca President-

elect Chris van

Weel receiving the

Officer of the Order

of Oranje Nassau

The award ceremony also

brought additional recognition to

Toine Lagro, who as a family doctor

has a special Chair on Gender in

Illness and Health(care), received an

Officership. In her case, the role of

Wonca and her contribution to the

Wonca Working Party on Women in

Family Medicine, was mentioned.

WONCA GLOBAL FAMILY

DOCTORS OF THE MONTH

The “Global Family Doctor of the

Month” Award is an award to honour

family doctors who give 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 receives a

letter of congratulations from the

Wonca CEO; an Award certificate

signed by the President of Wonca

and the CEO of Wonca suitable for

framing and a complete office

diagnostic set from Welch Allyn

Submission Requirements:

Nominations with supporting

documentation are sent to the

Wonca CEO in Singapore.

Walter Rosser - Wonca Global

Family Doctor for January, 2007

Dr Rosser was born in Ottawa,

Canada. He is known for his

research, his commitment to building

capacity for primary care research,

and for his international work.

Dr Walter W. Rosser,

Canada

He was Professor and Chair of

the Department of Family Medicine

respectively in the universities of

Ottawa, McMaster, Toronto, and

since 2002, at Queen’s University in

Kingston. In each department, he

built research capacity and served as

a model for faculty members,

residents, and students looking to

become primary care researchers.

Overlying all of this was his work in

the political arena provincially,

nationally, and internationally,

always with the agenda of furthering

the cause of family medicine through

capacity building. Internationally, be

has spoken, written textbooks and

taught worldwide on primary care

topics and evidence-based medicine.

Wonca Global Family Doctor for

December 2006

Prof Kanu Gopal Bala

Bangladesh

Professor Kanu Gopal Bala,

MBBS, FCPS, FCGP, PhD, was born in

Gopalganj, Bangladesh on 31

December 1953.

He is currently President of The

Bangladesh Academy of Family

Physicians, and Professor and

Medical Director of the Bangladesh

Institute of Family Medicine &

Research, University of Science &

Technology Chittagong. Professor

Bala is very much involved in the

development of the art and science

of Family Medicine in Bangladesh

and has been a key person in the

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MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

development of Family Medicine

education in the country where he

has had a number of roles:

• Played a significant role in the

establishment of The College of

General Practitioners of

Bangladesh [BCGP], The

Bangladesh Academy of Family

Physicians, and Bangladesh

Institute of Family Medicine &

Research.

• Developed the Prospectus,

Course & Curriculum of the

“Fellow of College of General

Practitioners [FCGP].

• Served as Organizer and Founder

Editor-in-Chief on Family

Medicine journals, including the

‘Bangladesh Private Medical

Practitioners Journal’ and the

‘BCGP Annals’.

• Developed the Prospectus,

Course & Curriculum of the

‘Family Medicine Diploma [FMD]’

course.

• Introduced the 2 Step Education

Policy for Bangladesh.

Author of “The Basis of Family

Medicine”, a book written for

students of FMD and MD.

Isabelita Morales Samaniego -

Wonca Global Family Doctor for

June 2006

Dr Isabelita Morales Samaniego

was born in Binan Laguna,

Philippines. She is a graduate of

family medicine residency training

from the Philippine General

Hospital, holds a masters of

Occupational Health form the UP

College of Public Health.

Dr Isabelita

Morales

Samaniego,

Philippines

Since 1978, Dr Samaniego has

been in community based family

practice. Her patients include

several generations of families in

the community and a string from

industries. Since 2000,

Dr Samaniego has been Chairman of

the Department of Family Medicine

at the Ospital ng Maynila. Dr

Samaniego currently serves as the

Philippine Academy of Family

Physicians Laguna Chapter

Coordinator of the Family Based

DOTS Program and CME Advisor, and

nationally as the Chair of the

Specialty Board. She is also the

Assistant Editor of the Filipino

Physicians Journal.

Tomlin Paul - Wonca Global

Family Doctor for May 2006

Dr Tomlin Paul was born in the

small village of Morne Diablo in

Trinidad and Tobago in the southern

Caribbean. After studying for his

medical degree at the University of

the West Indies in Jamaica, he went

on to further his studies in

community health and in 1986

graduated with a Master of Public

Health. He has been working in

Jamaica since, as a family physician,

teacher, researcher and volunteer.

Dr Tomlin Paul,

Trinidad and

Tobago

Dr Paul’s heart has remained in

the community over the years. He

has been a teacher of community

health for the past 20 years and for

the last 3 years has been

responsible for coordinating the

undergraduate programme in his

Department at the University of the

West Indies. He teaches family

medicine and primary care to

medical students and coordinates a

rural experience where students

gain first hand experience in

managing and treating common

problems in the community.

Fons Sips: Wonca Global Family

Doctor for April 2006

Dr. Fons Sips was born in

Heerlen, The Netherlands, in 1940.

He studied Medicine and Psychology

at the Radboud University,

Nijmegen. In 1971, he started a

practice as general practitioner/

family physician in Vught, a small

town in the Southern part of the

Netherlands. He continued to work

in the same practice until the end of

his medical career, in May 2006.

From 1971 until today Dr Sips