WFDD 2026: Take part in our campaign

May 2026

May, 2026

World Family Doctor Day 2026 | Compassionate care in a digital world

World Family Doctor Day 2026

Compassionate care in a digital world

19 May 2026

Every year on 19 May, World Family Doctor Day celebrates the work of family doctors and general practitioners in communities around the world. The day is coordinated by WONCA, the World Organization of Family Doctors, and marked by member organisations across all seven WONCA regions through events, campaigns, media activities, and advocacy.

This year's theme asks what it means to be a family doctor in an age of algorithms. Digital tools and artificial intelligence are reshaping how healthcare is delivered. But for the hundreds of millions of people who rely on a family doctor as their first point of contact with the health system, what matters most has not changed: being known, being heard, and being cared for as a whole person.

WFDD 2026 makes the case that the values of family medicine, compassion, continuity, and trust, must shape how digital health develops. Technology should reduce the burden on doctors and patients, not add to it. It should widen access to care, not deepen inequities. And it must earn the confidence of the people who use it and the clinicians who deliver it.

The campaign coincides with the World Health Assembly, connecting the voice of primary care to global discussions on digital health and health systems.

Join the campaign

Add a profile frame

Show your support for World Family Doctor Day by adding the official WFDD 2026 frame to your profile photo.

Go to twibbonize.com/wfdd2026
Upload your picture
Download your frame
Post on social media and use the hashtags #WFDD2026 #WorldFamilyDoctorDay

Social media toolkit

The official WFDD 2026 social media toolkit is available in seven languages. It includes editable Canva designs, Zoom backgrounds, banners and sample posts you can adapt for your own channels and communities.

Access the toolkit

Videos

What family doctors bring to a digital world

At the WONCA World Conference in Lisbon, we asked family doctors from across our seven regions one question: describe family medicine in one word.

Family medicine and artificial intelligence: a human touch

What happens when the doctor's surgery meets the algorithm? This short film explores how family doctors are thinking about AI, what it can offer, what it cannot replace, and why the human relationship at the heart of primary care matters more than ever.

Primary care and the planet

A WFDD 2026 message from the WONCA Working Party on Planetary Health.

What does it mean to be a family doctor today?

A short extract from Dr Donald Li's Wes Fabb Oration at the WONCA Asia Pacific Regional Conference 2026.

The campaign

WFDD 2026 is built around three core messages.

1. Digital innovation must be driven by the real needs of patients, communities, and family doctors, not by technology alone.

Family medicine's values, and the voices of patients, caregivers and communities, must guide how digital tools and AI are designed and used in primary care. Digital innovation should be co-designed with those who use it, so that tools are equitable, accessible and culturally relevant, especially for people at risk of digital exclusion.

2. Digital tools and AI in primary care must be safe, ethical, transparent, and truly worthy of patients' and doctors' trust.

Digital health and AI in primary care must be safe, ethical, transparent and evidence-based. They should be designed to earn the trust of both patients and family doctors, with clear accountability, strong data governance and active work to avoid bias and widening inequities.

3. Good technology clears the path for compassionate care.

Good digital tools reduce administrative and cognitive burden, fit real primary care workflows, support clinical judgement and protect time for relational, compassionate care. They should help coordinate care across sectors and settings, not add new layers of fragmentation or bureaucracy.

Webinars and events

WONCA Digital Health Webinar Series

The WONCA Working Party on Digital Health is leading a new international webinar series of 10 sessions, designed to support family doctors and primary care teams in understanding and integrating digital health into everyday practice. The series shares practical, evidence-based insights and fosters global exchange on the evolving role of digital technologies in primary care.

Session 1: Digital health and patient-centred care in the age of AI

12 May 2026 | Recording available below.

The opening session introduced the series and examined how digital innovation is affecting quality and patient-centred care in primary care settings, exploring the Patient-Centered Clinical Method and how emerging technologies are reshaping care delivery.

Speakers: Ana Luisa Neves (Chair, WONCA Working Party on Digital Health; Imperial College London), Moira Stewart (Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Western University) and Keith Thompson (Chief Medical Officer, NuraLogix). Moderated by Hüsna Sarıca Çevik.

Session 2: Digital health and equity in primary care

Friday, 12 June 2026 | 17:00 CET

This session explores how digital health can support equity in primary care while ensuring vulnerable populations are not left behind. It is co-created in collaboration with the Special Interest Group in Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence of the European Young Family Doctors Movement.

Part I: An Electronic Personal Health Record for people on the move as a tool for digital health equity

Speaker: Steven van de Vijver, family doctor and Medical Information Officer at OLVG hospital, Amsterdam, and Senior Advisor at the Amsterdam Health and Technology Institute.

This talk explores how Electronic Personal Health Records can improve continuity of care for migrants, refugees and mobile populations whose healthcare information is often fragmented across systems and borders. Using HealthEmove as a real-world example, the session examines how digital tools can support communication, accessibility and continuity of care while addressing challenges including trust, privacy, interoperability and digital exclusion.

Part II: Equity impact assessment for AI tools

Speaker: Rita Abecasis, Family Medicine resident at USF da Baixa, Lisbon; Co-Chair of the Special Interest Group in Digital Health and AI at the European Young Family Doctors Movement.

This session examines why artificial intelligence in healthcare must be assessed through an equity lens before and during implementation. Topics include biased data, opaque decision-making, unequal impacts on underserved populations, and practical approaches to evaluating and mitigating these risks through governance models and equity assessment frameworks.

Caring in the Digital Age: Compassion for Patients, Systems, and the Planet

Tuesday, 19 May 2026 | 15:30 UTC

A webinar from the WONCA Working Party on Planetary Health, held on World Family Doctor Day itself. Spanish interpretation available.

Speakers: Dr Gabrielle Samuel (King's College London) and Dr Claire Brockbank (Chair of WONCA Africa 2026, Botswana). Moderated by Dr Sankha Randenikumara.

Humanismo Digital en Medicina Familiar: El desafío de cuidar en la era tecnológica

19 de mayo de 2026

En el marco del Día Mundial del Médico de Familia 2026, el Posgrado de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), en conjunto con el Grupo de Trabajo de Educación de la Confederación Iberoamericana de Medicina Familiar (CIMF), organizan este taller sobre los desafíos y oportunidades del cuidado en la era tecnológica.

Expositor: Felipe Moreno-Piedrahita H.
Modalidad: híbrida (virtual y presencial)
Sede presencial: Torre 1, Auditorio 2, PUCE, Quito, Ecuador

Horarios:
Ecuador: 4:00 p.m.
Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua y México (CDMX): 3:00 p.m.
Colombia, Perú y Panamá: 4:00 p.m.
Venezuela, Bolivia, República Dominicana, Puerto Rico y Cuba: 5:00 p.m.
Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile y Brasil: 6:00 p.m.
Portugal: 9:00 p.m.
España: 10:00 p.m.

Unirse a la reunión de Zoom (ID de reunión: 871 7455 2353)

Resources

Digital Health for Primary Care

A new book edited by Ana Luisa Neves and Liliana Laranjo, bringing together international perspectives on the role of digital technologies in family medicine. A practical reference for family doctors, educators and researchers navigating digital transformation in primary care.

View the book | Read the author interview

WONCA Digital Health Lexicon

The updated WONCA Digital Health Lexicon (July 2025) provides clear and consistent definitions across a rapidly evolving field. It supports family doctors, researchers and educators in navigating key concepts in eHealth with confidence and clarity.

Download the Lexicon

International Classification of Primary Care, Third Revision (ICPC-3)

ICPC-3 is the most comprehensive clinical classification designed specifically for primary care in digital environments. Used daily by general practitioners and family doctors, it records patients' reasons for encounter, symptoms, diagnoses and care processes, supporting patient-centred and continuous care. It is designed to interoperate with major international classifications including ICD-11, ICF and SNOMED CT.

Developed and maintained by the WONCA International Classification Committee (WICC), WONCA's oldest working group, ICPC reflects the eco-bio-psycho-social understanding of patients that defines family medicine. WONCA has now made ICPC-3 openly available under a Creative Commons licence, removing barriers to adoption and innovation in primary care worldwide.

Learn more about ICPC-3

WONCA Assessment of Digital Systems

As digital tools become part of everyday primary care, ensuring they are safe, effective and aligned with the values of family medicine matters more than ever. WONCA's Assessment of Digital Systems offers a rigorous, independent evaluation framework designed specifically for digital health solutions in primary care. It evaluates tools on how comprehensively they support family medicine practice, the evidence behind their safety and effectiveness, and their capacity to scale across diverse healthcare settings.

Learn more about assessment and accreditation

AI in Primary Care: Practical Guidance for Clinicians (forthcoming)

The WONCA Working Party on Ethics and Professionalism has developed a practical guidance document on AI in primary care for clinicians. It will be published in the coming weeks.