WONCA News

February, 2012

As 2011 came to a close, which is about halfway through my term as WONCA President, it seemed appropriate to reflect on the experience thus far. Traveling to more than 50 countries, meeting with heads of governments and global leaders, and leading WONCA through significant changes have been exciting, enlightening, and exhilarating. It has been an extraordinary 20 months.

December, 2011

Please Note: the Journal Alerts service will not be resuming in 2012 but from Feb 2012 we will have a new, more vibrant site with new content and features available for the GFD readership. We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks for all the dedication and work that the Editing Team has put in for all these years.

December, 2011

Since June 2009, A/Prof Jelle Stoffers has been the editor-in-chief of the European Journal of General Practice (EJGP). This is the official journal of the European Society of General Practice and Family Medicine (WONCA Europe).

December, 2011

Chile is a country of contrasts. Down the length of the nation, the heights of the Andes are only a short distance from the depths of the Pacific. Chileans (“Chilenos”) are friendly and direct, yet self-doubting and cautious.

October, 2011

Richard Roberts, presidente de la WONCA: “Los édicos de familia españoles y la semFYC tienen mucho de lo que estar orgullosos”

October, 2011

In the previous issue of WONCA News, I contrasted Family Medicine in Denmark and Romania. Danish family doctors stand tall atop their health care system. Romanian family physicians have a challenging ascent up a very steep slope. In this issue, I reflect on Spain and Brazil – two countries where the national health care systems have been re-built over the past two decades on a foundation of Family Medicine. A fiscal crisis (Spain) and a change in government (Brazil) now threaten the continued climb of Family Medicine in those nations.

August, 2011

Wonca’s vision of a world where every family has a family doctor has always seemed like a huge mountain to climb. Experienced climbers expect some parts of a climb to be easy and other parts to be difficult. What makes parts easier or more difficult is usually the weather overhead or the terrain underfoot. Recent travels to Denmark, Romania, Spain, and Brazil revealed storm clouds over family medicine’s horizon and a changing political landscape that may trip up family medicine’s ascent. I hope that the clouds will pass with improvement of the global economy and that the shifting earth will settle. I fear however, that the thunder and tremors may signal important warnings about health care, and about us.

June, 2011

The sunshine was glorious. The setting was spectacular. The stakes were high. We were in Geneva for the 64th meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA). The talk of this year’s WHA was non-communicable disease (NCD), but more on that later.

April, 2011

Professor Amanda Barnard chair of the WONCA Working Party on Women in Family medicine (WWPWFM) reports on activities at the recent Asia Pacific regional conference, in Cebu.

April, 2011

Celebrating an achievement in research publication, The Asia Pacific Family Medicine Journal raised the profile of regional research at the recent Asia Pacific WONCA conference, 2011.