VOLUME 30
NUMBER 4 – 5
AUGUST-OCTOBER 2004
CONTENT
From the Wonca President:
‘Reaching the Final’
2
From the CEO’s Desk
:
Wonca Years 2002 – 2004 :
4
The Watershed Triennium
From the Editor
:
Chronicling Wonca’s Journey:
6
The 2002-4 Triennium Issue
FEATURE STORIES
7
•The 17th Wonca World Conference in Orlando is Almost Here !!
•A Triennium of Record Growth – Wonca Reaches 97
Wonca’s Working Parties, Task Forces and SIGS
10
•Wonca International Classification Committee
•Working Party on Rural Practice
•Working Party on Quality in Family Medicine
•Working Party on Women and Family Medicine
•Working Party on Informatics
•Working Party on the Environment
•Task Force on Tobacco Cessation
•Special Interest Group on Health Behavior Change
•Special Interest Group on Psychiatry and Neurology
•Special Interest Group on Ethical Issues
•Special Interest Group on Travel Medicine
Wonca REGIONAL NEWS
16
•WONCA Europe 2004: There’s More Than Tulips in Amsterdam
•‘The Junior Doctor Project’: A report from the Wonca Europe
Preconference
•Wonca Triennium Regional Highlights
HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS
24
•Treating 3 Million with AIDS by 2005
•Health and Health System Stories During the Past Triennium
MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
28
•Member Organization Triennium Highlights
•Wes and Marian Fabb: That ‘Elusive Retirement’
•Remembering the Life of Patricia Game
RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
32
•Improving Health Systems: The Role of Family Medicine
(The Guidebook)
WONCA CONFERENCES 2004-2009 AT A GLANCE
34
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
35
WONCA President
Dr Michael Boland
Irish College of General Practitioners
4/5 Lincoln Place
Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel: 353 1 676 3705
Fax: 353 1 676 5850
Email: bolandgp@indigo.ie
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 News Editor
Dr Marc L Rivo
WONCA President-Elect
Prof Bruce Sparks, South Africa
WONCA Immediate Past President
Robert W Higgins, USA
Honorary Treasurer
Dr Geoffrey D Martin, Australia
WONCA Regional Presidents
Dr Abra T Fransch, Africa
Dr Warren A Heffron, Americas
Prof Goh Lee Gan, Asia Pacific
Dr Philip Evans, Europe
Prof Shatendra K Gupta, Middle East
South Asia
Dr Javier Dominguez, Iberoamericana-
CIMF (Interim)
WONCA Executive Members at Large
Prof Chris van Weel, Netherlands
Dr Geoffrey D Martin, Australia
Dr med IIse Hellemann, Austria
Chair, Bylaws and Regulations
Dr Dan Ostergaard, USA (co-opted)
WONCA News Editorial Office
Dr Marc L Rivo
4566 Prairie Avenue
Miami Beach Florida 33140 USA
Tel: 305 671 7327
Fax: 305 674 8839
Email: marcrivo@aol.com
WONCA website:
http://www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com
2002 TO 2004 TRIENNIUM ISSUE
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT:
‘REACHING THE FINAL’
This final issue of Wonca News for this triennium
provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the progress
made since our last World Council meeting in Alpine
Heath, South Africa more than three years ago. Hope-
fully it will help us to prepare for our forthcoming World
Council in Orlando, Florida in October. At that meeting
we will be setting our priorities for the next triennium
under the leadership of Bruce Sparks.
This is therefore my last opportunity as President to
record my gratitude to the large number of people in all
parts of the world who have worked so tirelessly to
build our organisation during my term of office. To
single out individuals would be unfair and to report in
detail on every initiative would take too long. Let me
attempt therefore to describe the major areas of progress.
The establishment of the new Wonca Secretariat in
Singapore has been an outstanding success. The
secretariat previously run in Australia by Wes and Marian
Fabb had set a high standard and the complexities of
transferring from one national, legal, and financial
system to another were considerable. The support of
the Singapore College was very helpful. We have
demonstrated that the Secretariat can be moved - but
not easily. For the future it is probably best that the
location of the Secretariat remain unchanged for at least
three terms.
During these last three years I have been invited to
many conferences and meetings. I have delivered more
keynote lectures than I care to remember. It has been a
great privilege and I am grateful to have been chosen.
Wonca’s Membership Growth
The global mission of Wonca challenges us to
develop a worldwide membership. Thus in the last three
years we have increased the number of organisations,
countries, and regions included in membership to a
point where we are truly global. I congratulate the
Membership Committee for the efficiency with which
they facilitated this expansion.
Following years of patient negotiation with Central
and South American colleagues, and an outstanding
meeting organised by Spanish colleagues in Seville
which I attended, we will formally welcome to Orlando a
WONCA
News
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT
2
new ‘Region Iberoamericana - CIMF’ with some 14 new
members.
Last year inspiring and enthusiastic leadership from
colleagues in Beirut, Lebanon brought together
representatives from more than ten Arab countries who
agreed to work towards the formation of an Arab
Region. Later I had a chance to visit Libya and was
encouraged by the level of interest in the proposed
region amongst the Mediterranean countries of North
Africa.
Just a few months ago a conference hosted by
colleagues in Nairobi, Kenya brought together
individuals and organisations active in East Africa. This
Sub-Regional approach to the enormous challenges of
the African region is an important strategic development
which could be usefully applied in other large regions,
particularly where travel is difficult and expensive.
Much important ground work has been done and
contacts made in the central Asian Republics and
Mongolia. Meanwhile the eastern border of the
European Region continues to expand. Here also, at
least in the short-term, sub-regions may offer the best
solution.
The Wonca web: www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com
The last Council Meeting in South Africa endorsed
the Executive decision to launch a new Wonca Website
in collaboration with Medi + World with Wes Fabb as
webmaster. In addition to the basic organisational
information about Wonca, the site offered a wide range
of new educational products and clinical information. Of
these the ‘Journal Alerts’ and its associated features
proved to be the most popular, generating most of the
1.8 million hits in a 6 month period. This unique,
innovative and popular service, devised and delivered
by Wes Fabb as Webmaster, will be the centrepiece of
the website going forward.
However maintaining the service depends on the
continuous use of a rare combination of skills -
scanning large numbers of journals for new information
Dr Michael Boland,
Wonca President,
2002-2004
WONCA
News
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT
3
relevant to family practice, summarising key points and
presenting it in a highly accessible web format. This
work must be realistically remunerated. Given the state
of Wonca finances external sources of funding must be
found to enable the service to continue. To date this
has proved to be very difficult but I remain hopeful that
suitable sponsors may be found.
Wonca’s Working Groups and Global Issues
The triennium has been an active time for standing
committees and working parties. The Research committee
convened a memorable global family medicine research
conference in Canada. Progress was also recorded in the
indexation of Family Medicine Journals following our
direct approaches to the Library of Medicine.
The Classification committee received long awaited
recognition for ICPC2e when WHO confirmed its
inclusion in their family of Official Classifications. I
believe this will have major implications for the choice
of ICPC as the national classification system of choice
for family practice worldwide.
The Rural Practice Working Party is one of Wonca’s
most active groups and I was privileged to attend
several of their conferences. One held in Australia
considered the future agenda for collaboration with
WHO; another, held in Santiago de Compostella, Spain,
laid the foundation for a future resolution of the World
Health Assembly in support of rural people and practice.
Both meetings included a heady mix of concern for
people, a rigorous approach to science, and above all
an active passion for justice and fairness.
The Quality Assurance Working Party has undertaken
a strategic review of its activities. They have agreed to
adopt a project approach in selected regions focussed
on specific themes and countries, with active local
involvement. They plan to offer technical assistance
from initial design to dissemination.
Other Wonca interest groups and working parties
have addressed a wide variety of concerns from The
Environment to Ethics, from Psychiatry & Neurology to
Care of the Elderly to Women & Family Medicine.
Our collaboration with WHO has changed as WHO
has changed. The retirement of Dr. Charles Boelen and
major internal restructuring led us to look beyond
‘Human Resources for Health’ to other areas such as
Non-Communicable Disease and Tobacco Control. Under
the leadership of the new Director General, Dr. Lee we
look forward to closer collaboration.
As a world organisation rooted in practice and the
pursuit of excellence through training education research
and quality, Wonca must continue to develop its
regional and global structures to reflect these goals.
Major non-communicable disease is one of the most
important areas of practice. Family practice needs to
contribute to the content of international best practice
guidelines and specifically to the strategies for their
implementation.
We had hoped to find the funding to undertake
these initiatives ourselves. Failing that, we have sought
to collaborate with other groups. For example we now
have in place a working partnership with ‘GOLD’ (the
international chronic obstructive airways disease guide-
line group) and their primary care interest group, IPCRG.
Similar initiatives in non communicable disease areas
such as cardiovascular disease, and diabetes are under
discussion. Other existing Wonca Working Parties and
Special Interest Groups devoted to Quality, Informatics
and Research can contribute positively to these
developments.
Reform of our bylaws has continued. The committee
has worked hard on a set of changes which will make
our procedures more flexible and more responsive to
our needs.
As Wonca becomes truly global the challenge of
funding our activities becomes ever more pressing. All
our new members will contribute financially to Wonca.
However their needs will greatly exceed their ability to
contribute. Traditional sources of funding - member
organisation dues, conference levies, and direct member
dues - will not be sufficient. Conferences in particular
have suffered from a global downturn in international
travel and rising costs.
We must therefore urgently seek new sources of
funds. We must also review the level of member dues
and invite richer nations to consider voluntary additional
specific project funding in a spirit of solidarity with
colleagues in developing countries.
Wonca will need to look beyond it’s own resources.
We should prepare suitable projects that ‘fit’ not only
our priorities but the philanthropic agendas of inter-
national charitable foundations and major donors
including the inter-national pharmaceutical industry.
In Durban we identified two ‘advocacy issues’ for the
triennium - the first was HIV/AIDS and more specifically
the availability of treatment in countries most affected
at a price which they could afford. The second was
about Tobacco Prevention and Cessation. I have spoken
From Left to right: Professor Cheong Pak
Yean, President, College of Family Physicians,
Singapore; Mr Chan Soo Sen, Senior Parli-
amentary Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office
and Ministry of Health Singapore; Dr. Michael
Boland, Wonca President; Dr Alfred Loh,
Wonca CEO; and Ms Yvonne Chung, Wonca
Administrative Manager, at the opening of the
new Wonca Secretariat in Singapore
There was a steep learning curve
for the new officers of the Organi-
sation during the first six months
but the day to day management
went smoothly. The relocation also
provided Wonca the opportunity to
register itself as a company limited
by guarantee. This was necessary as
Wonca had to be a legal entity to
sign agreements and claim owner-
ship of intellectual property of any
kind. Wonca International Inc was
hence incorporated. This important
step was made after various options
were considered. An Honorary Legal
Advisor was also appointed to
assist the CEO in Wonca’s legal
issues. The final step in this legal
restructuring of Wonca was the
establishment of the Wonca Trust
which will have as its trustees, the
Members of the Wonca Executive. To
commemorate all these changes, the
new logo of Wonca was introduced
to the world and Member Organi-
sations at the start of the triennium.
The Wonca Executive
In anticipation of an increase in
organizational activities and to
improve on the working efficiency of
the Executive Committee for the
triennium, the Wonca President
decided that the Executive would
meet six-monthly as a full
committee. This was a first in the
history of Wonca Executive and the
about these issues at every
available opportunity and I am
aware of many initiatives taken by
our member organisations. The WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control continues to progress. I
have attended and spoken at
several global conferences on
Tobacco or Health. I will recommend
to Council that Wonca continues to
identify global non-political
advocacy issues.
Finally readers of Wonca News
will undoubtedly agree that the
editor and staff have greatly
enhanced this publication making it
more interesting and relevant. I
have been convinced that Wonca
needs to have a regular internal
publication. Congratulations to all
concerned.
I am satisfied that Wonca has
completed another significant
chapter in its development as a
global organisation. I congratulate
the many unnamed individuals who
have made it happen. I will enjoy
watching its further progress from
the sideline.
Our AAFP colleagues have gone
to great lengths to make the
Orlando World Conference an
experience to remember. Their
attention to detail and their
determination to host a conference
which will appeal to everybody has
been extraordinary. I look forward to
meeting you there.
Michael Boland
President
World Organization of Family
Doctors
FROM THE CEO’S DESK:
WONCA YEARS 2002 –
2004: THE WATERSHED
TRIENNIUM
For anyone looking back at the
history of Wonca, it will be obvious
that the years of 2002 - 2004 have
been a watershed Triennium for the
Organisation. So much has happened
and has been achieved that it will
be impossible for me to give an
exhaustive and comprehensive
account. I will try in this column to
give only the key achievements and
events that have been of particular
significance to Wonca and that will
likely affect the Organisation in the
immediate and long term.
The Wonca Secretariat
This beginning of this triennium
witnessed the transfer of the Wonca
Secretariat from Melbourne, Australia,
which had been the ‘home’ of Wonca
for over two decades, to its new
home in Singapore. With this
relocation came the change also in
the Chief Executice Officer (CEO)
and the Administrative Staff. The
handing over of the hardware and
software of the office administration
and the duties of the CEO went very
smoothly, helped by the fact that
the two CEOs has had a very cordial
working relationship in years past
within Wonca.
Dr Alfred Loh,
Wonca CEO
(2nd from left),
accompanied
by Dr Michael
Boland
(center);
Wonca President, Professor Cheong Pak Yean,
President, College of Family Physicians,
Singapore (1st right) and Yvonne Chung,
Wonca Administrative Manager (1st left),
welcomes Mr. Chan Soo Sen, Senior Parli-
mentary Secretary (2nd right), Prime Minister’s
Office and Ministry of Health Singapore, to the
new Wonca Secretariat in Singapore
4
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FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT / FROM THE CEO’S DESK
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FROM THE CEO’S DESK
5
subsequent developments and achievements of the
triennium have shown this to be a right decision.
Another innovative move by Executive was the
inclusion of the Editor of Wonca News as a non-voting
Ex-Officio of Executive Meetings. This allowed for better
coverage of issues of importance to the Organization in
Wonca News. This in turn helped to keep Wonca Direct
Members and Member Organisations better informed
through the newsletter.
The invitation to the newly appointed Chair of the
Bylaws & Regulations Committee to sit as a non-voting
Ex-Officio of the Executive was also instrumental in
ensuring that the review of Wonca’s Bylaws &
Regulations recommended to Council were pertinent and
workable.
Finally, the triennium saw the further expansion of
the Executive Committee by the addition of the
representative from Wonca’s sixth and newest region -
the Iberoamericana – CIMF Region. This meant that
Wonca is now repre-sented in all the continents of the
Globe
The Wonca Website
(www.globalfamilydoctor.com)
The start of the triennium saw the launch of Wonca’s
active global website. This was done in conjunction with
medi + World International Inc, a media company
selected after due process by the earlier Executive
Committee of Wonca.
The appointment of the immediate past CEO of
Wonca, Prof Wes Fabb, as the Webmaster ensured that
the spirit, philosophy, mission and objective of Wonca
as an Non-Governmental Organisation was not lost in its
website. In just three short years, the website has
become widely known, used and appreciated by Wonca
members and others globally with over 40,000 visits
every month to the website involving over 180,000
pages of the web contents. Of special value and interest
to members is the Journal Watch Section of the site
which features the latest in relevant FM/GP articles
from various reputable medical journals worldwide
summarized and presented in a very readable form.
Journal Watch articles are also bulk e-mailed thrice a
week directly to over 3500 recipients globally as Journal
Alerts.
The website also provides valuable hyperlinks to the
websites of the larger Member Organisations of Wonca
and also gives updated information on future Wonca
Conferences, publications, committees, working parties,
and special interest groups. With the phenomenal
growth and potential of this website, Wonca hopes to
interest sponsors keen to work with the Organisation to
further the continuing medical education and
professional training of family doctors globally, and
especially in the developing countries where such
facilities or programmes may not be so readily available.
The website has so far achieved limited success in
securing some sponsorship from the pharmaceutical
industry. It will be an important avenue of co-operation
between Wonca and the pharmaceutical agencies in the
move to upgrade healthcare and healthcare providers
globally.
Wonca Committees, Working Parties, Task Forces,
Special Interest Groups
These Wonca sub-agencies were all very active during
the triennium and some achieved significant progress in
their agenda and objectives.
The WICC continues to have its International
Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2) translated into
different languages. To date, over thirty translations of
ICPC-2 have been completed with more underway. Of
even greater significance, the WHO recognized ICPC-2 as
a member of the WHO Family of Classifications. This
recognition has led to ICPC-2 being adopted by national
governments as they seek to capture data in the
primary healthcare context. The issuance of national
licenses will in future be a useful revenue of income for
Wonca and the WICC. The task ahead is now to have
ICPC-2 harmonised with the other WHO-FIC member
classifications.
The Working Party on Rural Practice continues to
lead the global agenda on rural healthcare and related
issues. The Wonca World Conferences on Rural Health
has grown in size and attendance over the years with
the two biggest ones held in Melbourne (5th World
Rural Conference- 2002) and in Santiago De
Compostella (6th World Rural Conference - 2003). Out of
these conferences, emerged: (a) The Melbourne
Manifesto - A code of Practice for the International
Recruitment of Healthcare Professional, (b) The Wonca
Policy on Female Family Physicians in Rural Practice and
(c) The Wonca Policy on Quality and Effectiveness of
Rural Health Care. Efforts are being made now to have
these policies adopted by WHO.
The triennium also saw the launch of Wonca’s Global
Initiatives in HIV-AIDS and tobacco control. The Special
Task Force on Tobacco Cessation has been active
throughout the triennium and will be pre-senting a
special session on its findings at the Orlando World
Conference. Wonca’s call for greater governmental and
community involvement in preventing the spread of HIV
infections and the care for HIV-AIDS patients have been
made on many occasions in different forums globally
over the triennium.
In March 2003, the “First Wonca Invitational
Conference on Improving Healthcare Globally - The
Necessity of Family Medicine/ General Practice
Research”, was held at Queens University, Kingston,
Ontario, Canada. During the Conference, seventy-four
experts from thirty-six countries were involved. The
conference reviewed the many challenges and
opportunities in the development of family/general
practice research and found a considerable number of
models of success. The Conference noted that is was
essential that research be directed at the health
problems with the highest impact on patients’ health
and wellness. This would vary between communities
and emphasizes the importance of sentinel systems to
monitor morbidity in the community.
Perhaps the most phenomenal change in Wonca
during the triennium has been its physical growth in
terms of global reach and influence. At the start of the
triennium (June 2001), Wonca had 65 Member Organi-
sations with 5 Members in Collaborative Relations.
Towards the end of the same triennium (as at end June
2004) there were 88 Member Organisations and 9
Members in Collaborative Relations. There was hence an
increase in 23 Member Organizations and 4 Members in
Collaborative Relations during the triennium. This rate of
physical growth of the Organisation has never occurred
before in the 30 years of its history. The new Member
Organisations added to the ‘Wonca Family’ have also
given rise to the formation of the Sixth Region of Wonca
- The Iberoamericana-CIMF Region with 12 Member
Organisations.
What is also important is that the groundwork has
been laid during the triennium for the possible
formation of two other new Regions of Wonca - a
Central Asia and a Middle-East Region. Contacts have
been made with family doctors’ organizations in these
areas that are in the process of formally applying for
Wonca membership. These organisations have also
expressed the desire to establish their own Regions
within the ‘Wonca Family’ when sufficient numbers of
member organizations are present in the grouping. The
other significant aspect of this organisational growth is
the fact that almost all of the new organizations joining
Wonca in the triennium have been from developing and
newly independent nations. These are nations where the
concept and relevance of General Practice/Family
Medicine in the formulation of healthcare policies are
more likely to be appreciated and implemented.
The triennium will end at the forthcoming 17th
Wonca World Conference in Orlando. It is not surprising
that this final event itself will be special in many ways.
Besides being the biggest Wonca World Conference ever
with more than 12,000 participants (including delegates
from the AAFP Congress), the Orlando Conference will
also be known for the largest numbers of scientific
paper submissions and abstracts selected. The sheer
size of the scientific programme, the magnitude of the
trade exhibition and the opportunities for continuing
medical education and professional development has no
precedence. To match all these is the generosity of the
Host Organising Committee in instituting the Conference
Bursary Programme in which over 90 recipients from
over 40 countries will receive financial assistance to
come to Orlando for the Conference.
The above issues are only some of the achievements
of Wonca in the past three years. In many ways it has
been a productive and eventful triennium which will
pave the way for the further growth and maturity of the
Organisation in the years ahead.
Dr Alfred WT Loh
Chief Executive Officer
World Organization of Family Doctors
FROM THE EDITOR:
CHRONICLING WONCA’S JOURNEY: THE
2002-4 TRIENNIUM ISSUE
“Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a
voyage and not a harbor”. Arnold Toynbee
This combined August-October issue of Wonca News
records the journey of our global community and Wonca
family during the 2002 to 2004 triennium following the
16th Wonca World Conference in Durban South Africa in
2001.
In his President’s column, Michael Boland reflects on
Wonca’s important journey he has led since assuming
the Presidency in Durban, South Africa. In his CEO’s
column, Alfred Loh reflects on the historic opening of
Wonca’s Secretariat in Singapore in 2002 and the
opening of GlobalFamilyDoctor.com, the new Wonca
6
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FROM THE CEO’S DESK / FEATURE STORIES
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FEATURE STORIES
7
web. Both cited our phenomenal membership growth
as one of Wonca’s most significant achievements this
triennium. As Warren Heffron, Wonca’s Executive
member and Membership Chair reports in detail, Wonca
has grown to 97 member organizations from 79
countries, a record increase of 26 member organi-
zations, including Wonca’s new Iberoamericana-CIMF
Region under the leadership of Interim President, Javier
Dominguez. As Michael and Alfred note, Wonca today
has become truly a global organization.
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 the June, 2004 Wonca Europe
Conference in Amsterdam and publishes highlights from
the previous Regional Conferences of this triennium.
Wonca’s Committees, Working Parties, Task Forces and
Special Interest Groups report on their triennium
activities in this issue. Some of Wonca member organi-
zations reported on their triennium highlights. Finally,
this issue high-lights the major health and health
system challenges that Wonca has addressed during this
triennium.
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. Each of Wonca’s 97 Member Organizations has
filled their publications with important contributions to
world health and to Wonca in the past triennium. During
this past triennium, individual contributions of Wonca’s
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 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 documents that
we have much to recall and celebrate 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)
FEATURE STORIES
THE 17TH WONCA WORLD CONFERENCE
IN ORLANDO IS ALMOST HERE!!
Do not miss an opportunity to attend what will be
the largest gathering of family doctors from around the
world on Orlando from October 13-17, 2004 !! Click on
http://www.wonca2004.org/x14661.xml to access the
Wonca 2004 registration information.
Make Your Hotel Reservation Today! Several Hotels
Are Already Sold Out
Don’t forget to make your hotel reservation. Rooms
are selling fast and the following hotels are already sold
out: Embassy Suites Jamaican Court, Hampton Inn
Convention Center, Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel &
Suites, JW Marriott, Peabody, Rosen Centre, Rosen Plaza,
Sierra Suites, and Springhill Suites.
Competitive room rates are still available, but you
should book now in order to get your preferred hotel
choice. All hotels reserved for the meeting are
conveniently located near the Orange County
Convention Center and will have access to shuttle
service. Make your hotel reservations online at http://
www.wonca2004.org/x14652.xml.
Critical Issues Addressed inTwo Plenaries: HIV/
AIDS and Discrimination
Dr. Godfrey Sikipa from Zimbabwe has one of the
most challenging plenaries on a health care topic of
epidemic proportion, “AIDS in Africa and Around the
World”. Areas he will cover are possible approaches to
make treatment more accessible; the impact on the
health sector in developing countries, and the social,
economic and development impact of HIV/AIDS. He will
present a worldwide epidemiologic picture of this
destructive disease.
In her plenary “Discrimination as a Worldwide Health
Issue,” Dr. America Bracho who is originally from
Venezuela will give examples of discrimination and what
role it plays in the creation and maintenance of disease.
She will talk about how institutionalized discrimination
affects health and what family doctors could do to
address the issues.
Do You Need a Rental Car?
Avis has been selected as the official car rental
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES
8
company. Special rates will be available from October 7
to October 24 for Wonca registrants. Additional
information is available at: http://www.wonca2004.org/
x14698.xml
Do you need transportation from the airport to your
hotel?
Mears Transportation is the official airport shuttle
company providing transfer to Orlando hotels. To make
a reservation, call the 24-hour reservation line:
407-423-5566 or fax: 407-841-6851, or online at:
www.mearstransp
