WONCA News

August, 2016

I am going to suggest we could do one thing better with the rich resources of our members. We could have more focused ‘big conversations’ on some of the key topics for our discipline. We have many policy experts in our community, and many of the MOs are writing papers and strategies regularly for use in their own country.

August, 2016

On 28 May 2016 at the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly, WHO Member States officially adopted the Framework on integrated people-centred health services (IPCHS) and its resolution on “Strengthening integrated, people-centred health services”, formally giving the WHO Secretariat the mandate to work on this new programmatic area.

August, 2016

Family Medicine for America is a collaboration between the USA’s eight leading family medicine organizations. It has launched a national three-year campaign, Health is Primary, to raise awareness of the role of primary care in the health care system and demonstrate its value in delivering on the Triple Aim of better health, better care and lower costs.

August, 2016

Applications close November 4, 2016 for the the AFMC Charles Boelen International Social Accountability Award. The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) last year announced a new award - the AFMC Charles Boelen International Social Accountability Award. Named after Dr Charles Boelen, a world leader in Social Accountability, it aims to celebrate people or organizations whose professional accomplishments are reflective of the principles of social accountability.

July, 2016

The recognition of family medicine as a specialty matters. We want our medical graduates to become family doctors by choice, not by accident... I was reminded by college president, Associate Professor Lee Kheng Hock, that family medicine is not yet recognized as a medical specialty in Singapore.

July, 2016

It is with great sadness that we today learned of the death on 22nd July 2016 of our great friend, colleague and one of the Founding Fathers of the Vasco da Gama Movement, Fons Sips.

July, 2016

A newly formed WONCA Specialist Interest Group on Genetics has been set up and we hope the topics and themes discussed in this short paper will interest WONCA members (and we look forward to having new members join!).

July, 2016

WONCA editor, Karen Flegg, writes: The recent WONCA Europe conference provided an opportunity for attendees to undertake a visit to the practice of Danish colleagues. I was welcomed by Dr Gobind Kalsi and Dr Kristian Müller at their practice in Vesterbro, Copenhagen.

July, 2016

Definitions, models and limits... Does this matter? I think it does, at least at the level of the ‘system’. While individual circumstances and opportunities may vary, a health care system that does not implement the full scope of family medicine is likely to be less cost-effective.

July, 2016

A timely reminder from our CEO about details for the coming World conference in Rio and the associated meetings of WONCA groups and WONCA World Council. Links to the latest on Zika virus.