Interactive Webinar - NCD Leadership: From Policy to Patient Outcomes

October 2026 Special Interest Group News Young Doctors Movements

October, 2026

How family doctors can lead change beyond the consultation room

How can family doctors help improve noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and care beyond the consultation room?

Join WONCA for an interactive, two-hour webinar exploring how leadership connects national health policies and programmes, primary care teams and communities to improve NCD care. Part of the WONCA Young Family Doctors NCD Fellowship, the session will bring together expert perspectives, audience discussion and presentations from Fellows working on locally focused quality improvement projects.

Effective NCD leadership connects policy, programmes, primary care teams and communities. Family physicians play a pivotal role in translating these connections into meaningful, equitable and sustainable improvements in health outcomes.

Date: Tuesday, 3 November 2026
Time: 13:00-15:00 CET (Brussels) / 12:00-14:00 UTC
Format: Online webinar via Zoom

Register for the webinar on Zoom

Key Learning Outcomes

By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

Recognize the interconnected roles of policy, health systems, primary care teams and communities in improving Non-communicable Disease (NCD) outcomes.
Identify opportunities for family physicians to exercise leadership both within and beyond clinical practice.
Draw practical lessons from international NCD policy and primary care improvement experiences.
Apply collaboration, advocacy, patient engagement and quality improvement approaches to real-world challenges.
Identify feasible leadership actions to strengthen NCD prevention and management.

Who should attend?

Family doctors, young family physicians, primary care professionals, medical educators, public health practitioners, health programme managers and everyone interested in strengthening leadership for better NCD outcomes.

Speakers and contributors

Dr Tamar Gabunia, MD, MPH (Georgia)
Family physician and Policy Advisor, Georgia Family Medicine Association. Dr Gabunia has more than 20 years of experience across clinical practice, national health leadership and international advisory work, including primary health care reform, governance and quality improvement.

WONCA Young Family Doctors NCD Fellows

Angie Echavarría — Argentina
Ibrahim Abubakar — Nigeria
Jiun Hoong Ng — Malaysia
Mohammed Dawoud — Kuwait
Nilka Arosemena Sandoval — Panama
Parami Abeyrathna — Sri Lanka
Elif Sıdal Gültekin — Turkey

Fellows will share leadership challenges, experiences and proposed actions from their ongoing projects to strengthen NCD prevention and care in primary care.

Assoc Prof Klaus B. von Pressentin (South Africa)
Lead Mentor, WONCA Young Family Doctors NCD Fellowship, and Chair of the WONCA Working Party on Quality and Safety. He will guide the cross-project learning and leadership action planning session and deliver the closing remarks.

Webinar Agenda

All times are in UTC.

12:00-12:05 - Welcome and Introduction
12:05-12:35 - NCD Leadership: From Policy to Patient Outcomes - Dr Tamar Gabunia, MD, MPH, Policy Advisor, Georgia Family Medicine Association
12:35-13:00 - Interactive Discussion and Q&A - Applying leadership principles to real-world challenges in NCD prevention and care
13:00-13:05 - Meet the WONCA NCD Fellowship Fellows - Introducing the Fellows and opening the Fellows' presentation session
13:05-13:45 - Leadership in Action: WONCA NCD Fellows' Presentations - Fellows share leadership challenges, experiences and proposed actions from their NCD improvement projects
13:45-13:55 - Cross-Project Learning and Leadership Action Planning - Shared lessons, leadership opportunities and next steps, Dr Klaus von Pressentin
13:55-14:00 - Key Takeaways and Closing Remarks - Dr Klaus von Pressentin

Register now for the 3 November webinar

About the Fellowship

The WONCA Young Family Doctors NCD Fellowship is a ten-month programme connecting early-career family doctors with mentors, educational workshops and practical quality improvement projects. Read more about the Fellowship, first cohort and programme's aims and experiences.

The WONCA Young Family Doctors NCD Fellowship is funded by an independent educational grant from AstraZeneca.

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