From the Editor: September 2021
Welcome to WONCA News September!
This edition is dedicated to
World Patient Safety Day, celebrated on September 17. World Patient Safety Day was established in 2019 by the 72nd World Health Assembly through the adoption of resolution
WHA72.6 ("Global Action for Patient Safety"), based on the fundamental principle of "First, do no harm".
Since then, every September, the World Health Organization calls for solidarity and global action to improve patient safety. We would like to invite WONCA Family members, colleagues, patients, caregivers and communities to join this celebration on September 17 and show your commitment to Patient Safety. A special thanks to our colleagues from the
WONCA Working Party on Quality and Safety, particularly to the WP Chair, Dr Maria Pilar Astier Peña, and Dr José Miguel Bueno, Secretary of the Working Group.
About this Issue
This issue begins with an
important message from WONCA President Dr Donald Li, regarding vaccination hopes, the goal of reaching Universal Health Coverage for all, and the global obstacles that the COVID19 pandemic has made evident.
Dedicated to World Patient Safety Day, this edition for September also presents the reflections of
WONCA President-Elect, Dr Anna Stavdal, on Patient Satisfaction and Patient Safety. You will also find all the details and objectives of
World Patient Safety Day 2021, with the theme
"Safe maternal and newborn care". This issue also includes content created by the
WONCA Working Group on Quality and Safety about the
role of family doctors in Patient Safety, the
Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030, the
XIII Conference on Patient Safety in Primary Care, and the blog
“Sano y Salvo” (Safe and Sound), to promote Patient Safety Awareness.
WONCA News September also contains information on the
Social Media Toolkit for Health Practitioners, launched by the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the UK Government, to tackle COVID misinformation.
To close this edition, meet our
Featured Doctor for this month, Dr Gabriela Di Croce from Argentina. Also, do not miss out on the latest activities of our
Young Doctor Movements, along with the most recent announcements from members of the WONCA Family.
Please remember that the
WONCA World Conference 2021 will be fully ONLINE from 22–27 November 2021! You can now discover the
complete list experts that will lead our Plenary Lectures and Special Sessions at the official
#WONCA2021 website, along with program highlights, important dates and much more.
I hope you enjoy this issue, and please remember that you can drop me a line (or an article!) at
[email protected]
Happy reading, and stay safe!