A call to help women with low resources attend Prague

A letter from Professor Amanda Barnard, Chair of the WONCA Working Party for Women and Family Medicine seeking your help to support women family doctors in need to attend the coming World Conference in Prague.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As most of you know, WONCA is holding its third yearly world conference and triennial meeting in Prague, in June. The WONCA Working Party for Women and Family Medicine (WWPWFM) has a preconference and series of five workshops during the conference.

We have put out a call for bursaries applicants, and received 69 applicants for the eight we could afford. It has been very difficult and humbling trying select the women from around the world who might attend the meeting, if they had the resources. It is amazing to read the accomplishments of women from places as different as Malawi, Turkey, Vietnam, Palestine, Nigeria, Uganda ,Malaysia, and the Philippines, among other countries, where women doctors are struggling to do family medicine and lead safe, productive lives within their families, all the while working on empowering women patients, educating about domestic violence or AIDS education or maternal child health, etc., and teaching and role-modelling for their women trainees about gender in medicine.

I have taken on the job of trying to secure some additional funds to help some of these women to attend the women's preconference and the WONCA World conference at the end of June in Prague. Each $1000 that we can raise (within the next couple weeks) would enable another woman to attend. We have had a generous donation from the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Our President, Prof Rich Roberts, is leading by example with a generous donation. We has also had individual donations from women doctors in the USA and Canada. Currently I am inviting my women colleagues in Australia to donate.

If you can, please help our colleagues in need attend the WONCA 2013 world conference in Prague.
There are three options to process your donation:

1. The Royal Australian College of GPs has offered to provide the means by which you can deposit a donation in the WWPWFM account (held by the RACGP). Fill out the attached form and email or fax. Credit card only please.

2.  The American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation has agreed to accept tax deductible donations which they will forward to WONCA to support the selected candidates. To donate in this way please follow these instructions carefully:
go to www.aafpfoundation.org and click on "Donate today"; after the amount, click "Other" to indicate what you want the money to support, and enter " the donation is for WWPWFM International Fund."

3. By electronic transfer to WONCA's bank account in Singapore: Please ensure you give your name as reference and then email  [email protected] to let Nongluck know that you want your money to go to the Women's Working Party bursaries.
Citibank Singapore
SWIFT CODE: CITISGSGGCB
Account: WONCA INTERNATIONAL INC
Account no: 0-500152-001

Bursary winners announced so far are listed below - help us to help more women to attend:
Abimbola Silva, (Nigeria)
Aileen Espina (Philippines)
Alice Shiner (UK)
Elizabeth Reji (South Africa)
Fatma Cihan(Turkey)
Jane Namatovu(Uganda)
Martha Makwero(Malawi)
Mimi Doolan(USA)
Omneya El Sherif (Egypt)
Retno Asti Werrdhani (Indonesia)
Samar Musmar (Palestine)
Sameena Shah (Pakistan)
Temitope Ilori (Nigeria)

Many thanks,
Prof Amanda Barnard
Chair WONCA Working Party for Women and Family Medicine (WWPWFM).