Newsletter: November 2019

Our Executive and many of our members are involved in numerous ways in the development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in relation to their practice. As an organization we emphasise that nothing can replace the face to face and continuous contact between family doctor and patient.

​Notre exécutif et de nombreux membres sont impliqués de plusieurs façons dans le développement et l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle (IA) dans le cadre de leur pratique. En tant qu'organisation, nous soulignons que rien ne peut remplacer le face à face et le contact continu entre médecin de famille et patient.

我们的执行委员和众多的成员，正以不同的方式及渠道，参与和医疗业务相关的人工智能开发与应用。作为一个代表家庭医生的组织，我们一直强调，没有什么可以取代医生与病人可以面对面作持续的接触，以建立长久互信的关系。

Nuestro Ejecutivo y muchos de nuestros miembros están comprometidos de muchas formas en el desarrollo y el uso de la Inteligencia Artificial (Artificial Intelligence, AI) en relación con sus prácticas. Como organización, queremos enfatizar que no hay nada que pueda reemplazar el cara a cara y el contacto continuo entre los médicos de familia y los pacientes.

The CEO reflects on a welcome return for him to the Eastern Mediterranean region and outlines plans for the WONCA world conference coming in November 2020 to Abu Dhabi. This includes plenaries, dates for meetings, and notice that abstract submission is open and for workshop and symposia closes December 15.

Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, WONCA Executive Member-at Large and WHO Liaison person was the WONCA Delegate to the UN High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. September 23, 2019. Now we have a political declaration signed by all member countries of the UN. WONCA invites member organisations to review the declaration

A two-day consultative meeting was held at the WHO AFRO offices in Congo Brazaville on the 13-14 August 2019. This meeting came as a result of the active participation of Dr Prosper Tumussime at the WONCA Africa conference in June 2019, in Kampala, Uganda. The need for WONCA Africa and WHO AFRO to work together to strengthen health systems in African countries became apparent.

Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, WONCA Executive Member-at Large and WHO Liaison person was the WONCA Delegate to the UN High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. September 23, 2019. Now we have a political declaration signed by all member countries of the UN. WONCA invites member organisations to review the declaration

It’s a great pleasure to announce the 17th WONCA World Rural Health Conference (WRHC 2020) to be held in Dhaka from 15th - 18th April 2020.

Have you been wanting to plan a trip to New Zealand but haven’t quite got there? WONCA 2020 is the perfect opportunity to visit New Zealand and discover the incredible landscapes and warm hospitality our country is famous for.

Desde mi punto de vista, la buena comunicación entre profesionales médicos que promueven la cortesía profesional y el respeto mutuo, puede llegar a tener un impacto significativo en las vidas de los pacientes, mediante una aproximación sencilla y de bajo coste.

Frequent examples throughout medical history have shown that simple, low tech interventions can have significant impact on population health. Vaccination programmes, clean water and provision of high-quality primary care are such examples. In my view, good communication between medical professionals which promotes professional courtesy and mutual respect can have a similar significant impact on patients’ lives, with a simple approach and low cost.

医学史上很多例子告诉我们，简单、低科技的措施已能帮助保障民众健康，疫苗接种、清洁食水和优质的基层医疗服务便是好例子。以我所见，医疗专业人员之间的良好沟通，促进专业礼仪及相互尊重，也同样是以简单、成本低的方式影响着病人的福祉。

It’s a great pleasure to announce the 17th WONCA World Rural Health Conference (WRHC 2020) to be held in Dhaka from 15th - 18th April 2020.

Free Access is being offered for a paper in the 30:4 issue : As professional identity formation is becoming an increasingly important concept and this paper refers to three important papers on this I felt it offered an opportunity to reflect on how as GP educators we can really support our students and trainees to develop in the challenging and rapidly changing health care environment we all face

Good mental health is related to mental and psychological well-being. Over the years, there have been increasing cases of anxiety, depression and suicides. One person dies every 40 seconds from suicide. Every suicide is a tragedy that has long-lasting effects on the people left behind. This year’s World Mental Health Day focus was on what can be done to prevent suicide.

Christopher Dowrick, chair of the WONCA Working Party on Mental Health reports on the WHO Mental Health Forum: Geneva, 14-15 October 2019: I was delighted to participate once again in this annual event, together with WONCA colleagues Gabby Ivbijaro and Abdullah Al-Khatami. It was an excellent networking and information sharing event, highlighting important developments in global mental health.

Dr Maria Pilar Astier Pena, chair, WONCA Working Party on Quality and Safety in Family Medicine (WWPQS) reports:

On World Mental Health Day, October7, WONCA draws attention to an important new study of antidepressant prescribing in primary care.

The Toolkit was launched at the 2019 EAPC conference in Berlin. It was presented at a plenary lecture to the audience of about 3000 delegates who each received a copy. Professor Scott Murray from the University of Edinburgh presented an infographic about the Toolkit and a short video about how it might be used.

Dr Carmel M Martin, convenor, SIG on Complexity in Health and Healthcare reports

Dr Victor Ng, convenor, SIG on Emergency Medicine reports:

Dr Alan Barnard, convenor WONCA SIG on Cancer and Palliative Care reports...

​Prof Dimity Pond, convenor, WONCA Special Interest Group on Ageing and Health reports:

The 89th EGPRN meeting took place in Vigo, Spain, between the 17th and the 20th October 2019. Find out more here.

A two-day consultative meeting was held at the WHO AFRO offices in Congo Brazaville on the 13-14 August 2019. This meeting came as a result of the active participation of Dr Prosper Tumussime at the WONCA Africa conference in June 2019, in Kampala, Uganda. The need for WONCA Africa and WHO AFRO to work together to strengthen health systems in African countries became apparent.

Free Access is being offered for a paper in the 30:4 issue : As professional identity formation is becoming an increasingly important concept and this paper refers to three important papers on this I felt it offered an opportunity to reflect on how as GP educators we can really support our students and trainees to develop in the challenging and rapidly changing health care environment we all face

The Toolkit was launched at the 2019 EAPC conference in Berlin. It was presented at a plenary lecture to the audience of about 3000 delegates who each received a copy. Professor Scott Murray from the University of Edinburgh presented an infographic about the Toolkit and a short video about how it might be used.