Newsletter: June 2015

Estuve en Ghana, asistiendo al Cuarto Congreso Regional de WONCA para África, presidido por el Dr. Henry Lawson de Ghana, presidente electo de nuestra región WONCA de África. Originalmente, el Congreso había sido pospuesto debido a la crisis del Ébola.

I was in Ghana attending WONCA’s 4th Africa Regional Conference. The conference was chaired by Dr Henry Lawson from Ghana, president-elect of our WONCA Africa Region. Originally the conference had been postponed because of the Ebola crisis.

WONCA President, Prof Michael Kidd says "thank you" to all family doctors around the world in honour of World Family Doctor Day, May 19.

The CEO reports on WONCA conferences in Dubai and Ghana; the World Health Assembly; and the success of World Family Doctor Day. He also bids a sad farewell to Janko Kersnik and David Game.

This year World Family Doctor day (FDD) has been celebrated by more people in more countries. We have been overwhelmed by the number of activities notified. This year we have chosen to feature celebrations from Nepal, as despite the very recent devastation of their country by two earthquakes, the general practitioners of Nepal made a celebration of World Family Doctor day and used it to pay tribute to the victims of the recent tragedy.

After Vietnam and Laos, we decided to visit Myanmar to discover this country which is known for its wonderful and preserved landscapes, very welcoming population and rich and unique history and culture.

WONCA News has begun a regular feature on the subject of Occupational Health -in this contribution, we deal with a review, commissioned by the WHO, and written by our authors on interventions in Primary Health Care regarding the health of workers.

Speech delivered by Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, 18 May 2015 at the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly.

WONCA East Mediterranean region met in Dubai from 30 April to 2 May. The conference organisers now have a wonderful selection of photos online as well as presentations available.

There is a big conversation going on – about a group of concepts variously termed as ‘overdiagnosis’, ‘overmedicalization’, and ‘quarternary prevention’. WONCA already has members who are active in this debate..

You don’t have to be inspired to work here ... but it helps! So here I am at age 60, resurrecting an old rural practice in the northern-most community in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

From 28th-30th April, a conference took place in Lille, France, under the title “Mental Health for all: connecting people and sharing experience”. The WONCA Working Party on Mental Health took advantage of the presence of WWPMH members for a meeting.

One year since the Newsletter for the WONCA SIG on Health Equity has started; it has been great to see increasing interest to the group, which is free for anyone of all healthcare professions to join.

A general interest item from members of AfriWON - WONCA Africa region's movement for young doctors.

WONCA East Mediterranean region met in Dubai from 30 April to 2 May. The conference organisers now have a wonderful selection of photos online as well as presentations available.

The European Academy of Teachers in General Practice (EURACT) announces its Statement on Assessment in Specialty Training for Family Medicine - “Assessment for Learning”

Latest PEARLS added as well as the Australian Smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity (SNAP) guide.

The WONCA family has been greatly saddened this weekend by the passing of two of its leaders, Prof Janko Kersnik, WONCA Europe Secretary and Dr David Game, past president of WONCA. WONCA sends its deepest condolences to the families of both men on behalf of the worldwide WONCA family.