Newsletter: December 2020

December 2020 marks the end of an era for WONCA – and the beginning of a new era. At the end of the month, Garth Manning will retire as WONCA CEO after more than eight years in post. I have worked with Garth throughout that time and was on the panel which appointed him. Garth’s first day in post was the first day of a three-day WONCA Executive meeting, in London, in 2012.

The ’30 by 2030’ campaign calls for development partners explicitly to assign 30% of their health funds towards building and improving primary care systems, to deliver integrated, comprehensive primary care services by 2030.

Décembre 2020 marque la fin d'une ère pour WONCA - et le début d'une nouvelle ère. À la fin du mois, Garth Manning prendra sa retraite en tant que PDG de WONCA après plus de huit ans en poste. J'ai travaillé avec Garth tout au long de cette période et j'ai fait partie du jury qui l'avait nommé.

Diciembre de 2020 marca el final de una era para WONCA y el comienzo de una nueva era. A fin de mes, Garth Manning se jubilará como CEO de WONCA después de más de ocho años en el cargo. He trabajado con Garth durante todo ese tiempo y estuve en el ejecutivo que lo nombró. El primer día de Garth en el cargo fue el primer día de una reunión ejecutiva de WONCA de tres días, en Londres, en 2012.

2020年12月标志着WONCA一个时代的结束， 亦是新时代的开始。首席执行官Garth Manning将于本月底退休，离开任职八年多的岗位。我是任命Garth的小组成员，一直与他并肩作战。Garth在2012年上任首天，参与了于伦敦举行为期三天的执行委员会会议，便随即着手这艰巨的工作 ！

Garth Manning (CEO 2012-2020) writes his final column for WONCA News reflecting on key achievements and changes during his CEO time of just over eight years, including: presidents; achievements in finances, communications, membership and diversity; expansion of Working Parties, Special Interest Groups and the Young Doctors' Movement; consultatncies and the WONCA standards that underpin these; and interaction with the WHO.

After 103 issues and over 10 ½ years it’s time for me to say farewell as your WONCA editor. It’s been an honour to serve WONCA as its Editor, since May 2010, as it allowed me to get to know so many fantastic and amazing colleagues and to learn about family medicine and its variations around the world.

At the end of 2020 Dr Garth Manning retires as WONCA CEO. He has served during the terms of four WONCA presidents, having commenced duties during the term of Rich Roberts, and continuing during the terms of Michael Kidd, Amanda Howe and Donald Li. Here Rich, Michael and Amanda give their thoughts at this time, and Donald’s parting messages are included in this month's “From the President” column.

Editor's pick photos are part of my reflection on a decade as WONCA They are favourites for various reasons - this time I’ve included a couple where I was caught in front of the camera instead of behind the camera, as well as some I think are great photos, some of WONCA leaders captured offguard, and some friends seen at conferences. All tell a story of the WONCA family.

Editor's pick photos are part of my reflection on a decade as WONCA Editor. It’s impossible to encapsulate everything WONCA is about. While this is certainly not a comprehensive selection of photos on what WONCA is about, all tell a story of the WONCA family.

At the end of this month, Dr Garth Manning retires as WONCA CEO. This collection of photos reflects on his term as CEO 2012-2020.

Dr John Wynn-Jones is well known in WONCA circles and immediate past chair of the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice. During the COVID-19 crisis he has been writing a daily 'Rural Miscellany' email with poems and resource ideas to help and divert us in this difficult time. As a final item for 2020 we publish our hopes for 2021 - "Health and Wellbeing" - written by John in September.

2020年快将结束，我们比以往任何时刻更感受到全面及持续的基层医疗系统的重要性。随着去年全球倾力对抗前所未知的冠状病毒，各国在履行2018年《阿斯塔纳宣言》承诺时似乎欠缺了一些动力。

Dr Anna Stavdal, WONCA President-elect, recently represented family medicine at the WHO Pan-European Commission which aims to position health at the top of the political agenda within the Sustainable Development Goals, and to strengthen the resilience of health and social care systems in the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region.

Final details are available including on speakers and programme for the European Conference of Family Doctors - DEGAM Annual Congress 2020 which is a virtual conference on December 16 - 19, 2020.

Currently, we are redesigning WONCA Europe 2021 Virtual Conference as we will not be able to organise a fully physical conference in Amsterdam. Yet, we really would like to achieve the best conference experience possible in these uncertain COVID-19 times.

The completely modernised International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC) wiil be launched on December 15 and be available without cost, online at www.icpc-3.info, and includes supporting information and training material.

I trust you are all staying well, despite the resurgence of the pandemic in many parts of the world. The results of the turbulent US elections remind us that change is possible. As Jill Benson told us during our recent webinar: “We need to stay hopeful, because we know that hopelessness is more infectious that COVID-19”.

The new WHF position paper – The Case for the Digital Transformation of Circulatory Health – explores how digital innovation can improve healthcare for people with circulatory diseases