From the CEO's desk: final 2014 message
The next World Council meeting and Rio world conference
Last month I reported that I would be in Rio de Janeiro, attending a Conference Planning Committee meeting for the WONCA World Conference in 2016. This month let me report back on some of the visits and discussions which took place during my stay in Brazil.
Rio really is a fantastic city, with many beaches right in the heart of the city. The venue for the World Council – the Windsor Hotel in Barra di Tijuca, a suburb of Rio - is across the road from an 18km long beach, which will form an alternative attraction to the events in Council! There are many hotels in the immediate neighborhood, to suit all pockets. The main meeting within the Windsor Hotel is ample for the Council meeting, and there are plenty of breakout rooms for both Council and for the regional, working party and special interest group meetings which will take place around the same time.
The conference itself is planned for Rio Centro, an excellent congress centre on a really lovely campus, close to what will become the Olympic village for the 2016 Olympics. The Host Organizing Committee for Rio 2016 are working hard to ensure that this is the best WONCA world conference ever, and estimates of up to 6,000 attendees are not unreasonable.
Key dates for the period leading up to the Council and conference include:
- Extra-early bird registration will close on 10th December 2014. This offers great value for money, and even better value for those with WONCA Direct Membership. It’s still not too late to apply – go the WONCA website (www.globalfamilydoctor.com) for more details.
- Early bird registration will run until 2nd November 2015.
- Call for abstracts will open on 1st May 2015, through to the end of February 2016. All those who are interested in submitting an abstract should start to work now on their development, so that they are ready for submission.
The other dates for your 2016 diaries are:
- Regional Executive meetings Saturday 29th October
- World Council All day Sunday 30th and Monday 31st October and morning of Tuesday 1st November
- Meetings of WPs and SIGs Afternoon of Tue 1st and all day Wed 2nd November
- WONCA World Conference opening on evening of Wednesday 2nd; closing ceremony at lunchtime on Sunday 6th.
For further details and information on the Rio conference you should consult the conference website, which you can access via the
WONCA GFD website.
Vasco da Gama Mental Health Group
We’ve just been notified of the launch of the Vasco da Gama (VdGM) Mental Health Group. The group lead is Ana Luisa Cabrita.
The first project for the new VdGM Mental Health Group is helping plan and get involved in delivery of new doctor sessions at the First International Mental Health Congress taking place in Lille in April 2015. Anyone from the Vasco da Gama Movement with interest in mental health should also ask to join the VdGM Mental Health Group. Further details can be obtained via the VdGM website or Facebook page.
Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year from the WONCA Secretariat
The Secretariat team (pictured are Garth Manning with Nongluck Suwisith and Arisa Puissarakij) joins me in sending season’s greetings to all our members, in all parts of the world. We wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to meeting up again in 2015.
Garth Manning
CEO
view 2013-2014 annual report