Rural Miscellany, October 2026

October 2026 Working Party News

October, 2026

Rural Miscellany October 2026
The October edition of Rural Miscellany, compiled by Dr John Wynn-Jones, past chair of RuralWONCA and EURIPA, is now available. Published regularly since April 2020, the Miscellany shares news, research and personal stories with family doctors and health workers serving rural communities around the world. This month it gives particular space to young rural doctors, with contributions from Indonesia and from across Africa.

Dr Wynn-Jones introduces the edition:

Welcome to the October edition of Rural Miscellany, which introduces two young colleagues from Indonesia. Dr Dewanto Andoko is a crucial member of the RuralWONCA team. He is responsible for the website and social media. Agustinus Rudolf Phyma, better known as Dr Puji, is another dynamic young Indonesian doctor working in Highland Papua. They are part of a new breed of committed young rural doctors, and we need to give them all our support.

You will also find a link to a regular newsletter developed across Africa by the African Young Doctor Organisation, AfriWON. This month's bulletin is dedicated to rural health and has contributions from a wide range of young doctors from Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Special thanks to Dr Nantale Atangwa Peace for her contribution.

Dewanto and I are keen to highlight other doctors working in rural areas around the world. Please contact us if you feel that you can share your experiences and innovations in future editions.

RuralWONCA is doing fantastic work on the big picture of international rural practice and health. News of their efforts rarely reaches individual practitioners, often working alone in challenging rural conditions. Our goal is to keep them informed, show appreciation for their work, make them feel good about themselves and remind them of their significant contributions. We also want to give them a platform to share their experiences and insights across the globe. We want to hear from you and we also need to add new names to the RuralWONCA Google Group.

Please get involved!

Finally, I have included some poems written by an American farmer and poet from Kentucky, Wendell Berry, who has sadly recently died. I hope you find them as special as I did.

Dr John Wynn-Jones

What is inside this month

Dr Dewanto Andoko, a family medicine specialist from Indonesia and RuralWONCA Council member, introduces himself and shares a short reflection on a medical mission to Oebelo, a village in East Kupang built by former East Timorese refugees. He also profiles Dr Puji, who has served in Highland Papua since 2018 and now leads Puskesmas Kanggime, together with Dr Puji's own piece, A Morning in Nunggawi.

A feature on the August 2026 AfriWON Renaissance newsletter, Family Medicine Where It Matters Most, highlights rural practice stories from Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Its editor in chief, Dr Nantale Atangwa Peace, writes about working in Karamoja, Uganda, and announces an online AfriWON event on 13 December 2026.

The edition pays tribute to the American writer and farmer Wendell Berry, who died on 31 August 2026, with a selection of his poems.

It also features Basic Healthcare Services in Rajasthan, India, and its AMRIT clinics serving migrant and tribal communities; open access to the WONCA book Family Medicine in the Undergraduate Curriculum; and a diagnostic overview of rural medical practice across 17 Ibero-American countries from the CIMF Rural and Community Medicine Working Group, coordinated by Dr Juan Carlos Perozo.

Readers will also find a One Health call to action issued during the UN General Assembly, correspondence from readers in South Africa and Spain, and a conferences and events section covering the Africa HealthTECH Summit, the 15th EURIPA Rural Health Forum, the WONCA East Mediterranean Region Conference in Cairo (26 to 28 November 2026) and the WONCA World Conference 2027 in Cape Town.

The edition closes with education resources, podcasts and a Rural & Remote Patient Story day on 27 October, new articles from Rural and Remote Health, and a wide selection of papers from other journals on climate and health, rural workforce, global health governance and artificial intelligence in clinical practice.