WONCA Environment Working Party - book launch

Family Doctors in The Field

- environmental stories from across the globe.

Along with my inspiring co-editors Alan Abelsohn, Karen Flegg and Margot Parkes, I am very excited to have participated in the creation of a new book called Family Doctors in The Field, which was launched on 4 July in Lisbon Portugal at the WONCA conference.

It is a collection of inspiring stories from doctors from around the world who have combined working as a family doctor with some form of environmental work. The book has being divided into five sections:

Part one:      Leaders at the Coalface
Part two:      Leaders by Example
Part three:   Paradigm Shifters
Part four:     Advocates for Change
Part five:      Future Leaders

A common theme which pervades the stories from the family doctors is their recognition that human health is ultimately dependent on a safe and sustainable environment and it is this insight, and an appreciation of the importance of the social determinants of health, that has been such a strong motivator for these doctors to engage in environmental issues within their countries.

The book itself was supported by the WONCA Working Party on the Environment and we very much see it as a living document and look forward to more doctors joining our working party and also perhaps contributing a profile about their work.

In the coming decades environmental issues are going to take centre stage more and more as we begin to reach some of the natural environmental limits of our planet, related to the atmosphere, forests, water, and air quality. It will be family doctors with their intimate understanding of the communities who will be an important voice in convincing policymakers, governments and communities that we need to protect the environment for future generations if we want them to experience the sort of improvements in global health that we have seen in our generation.

We hope that you will enjoy these wonderful stories and look forward to your involvement in our working party.

The book is free and can be downloaded at the following link

Grant Blashki
Chair WONCA Working Party on the Environment