This week’s e-update brings you a roundup of significant dates, insightful updates, and exciting opportunities tailored for family doctors worldwide. Let’s dive in!
WORLD FAMILY DOCTOR DAY
MARK YOUR CALENDAR – 19 MAY: World Family Doctor Day: Healthy Planet, Healthy People. This year, we underscore the vital role family doctors play in connecting community health with the broader environmental context. Our theme, “Healthy Planet, Healthy People,” is a call to action against the impacts of climate change on human health. From rising temperatures and extreme weather events to infectious diseases and food insecurity, climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.
INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES: Your experiences and insights are invaluable. We encourage you to share your stories, or contribute to our campaign video. Your participation can make a significant difference in our collective advocacy efforts. Get in touch!
SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT: Your WONCA Communications Officer is working hard to develop a toolkit to equip you with the resources needed to amplify our message. Stay tuned for its release.
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE & CLIMATE CHANGE: A collaborative seminar between the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and WONCA’s Working Party on Planetary Health explored the essential role of primary healthcare in combating climate change. Missed the live session? The recording is now available online.
WHO TOOLKIT: The World Health Organization has released a crucial toolkit for health professionals on communicating about climate change and health. Available in English, with more languages to follow, this toolkit is an essential resource for our World Family Doctor Day campaign.
UPDATE: For the first time, applicants to the Montegut Global Scholars Programme have the option to attend a regional conference OR a rural conference. This initiative offers a $3,300 USD scholarship for a doctor from each WONCA region supported by the American Board of Family Medicine Foundation. The deadline for applications is April 15, 2024.
UNITING FOR RURAL HEALTH: Our Rural WONCA conference, Ubuntu 2024, a joint effort with The Network: Towards Unity For Health, is set for September 10-13, 2024, in Cape Town, South Africa. Abstract submission is fast approaching. Apply by 31 March.
UBUNTU: A philosophy meaning “I am because we are” or “humanity towards others” from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Rural health conferences are exceptional opportunities for family doctors from rural areas to come together, share their unique stories, and enjoy a sense of community and camaraderie. Group bookings can benefit from a 5% discount.
PRIZE FOR BEST RURAL ABSTRACT: A special competition has just been announced for the best abstract submission on the theme on the theme “Building Equity for Rural Health”. The prize is flight costs (economy class), accommodation, and conference registration fees to attend Ubuntu 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. Not bad! Submit your abstract by 31 March 2024
SOCIAL MEDIA COMPETITION: Share your thoughts about rural health and the spirit of Ubuntu and stand a chance to win $100 USD towards your Ubuntu 2024 conference registration. Participation is straightforward: every 20 likes on our social media post = one entry. Use the hashtag #Ubuntu2024, tag us, and send your post to us to be entered into the draw. Videos, images, or written posts, on whichever platform you prefer (or even better, all of them). The deadline for entries is March 31, 2024.
WONCA Iberoamericano: – CIMF Conference in Panama City: 23 – 26 October 2024. Strengthening links and transforming health systems. Save the date!
8th WONCA Africa Region Conference in Nairobi, Kenya: 5 – 8 June 2024. Abstract submissions close on March 31.
WONCA South Asia Region Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka: 3 – 5 May 2024. The early bird registration deadline has been extended to March 30.
WONCA Asia Pacific Region Conference in Singapore: 21 – 24 August 2024. Early bird registration is still open.
WONCA Europe Conference in Dublin, Ireland: 25 – 28 September 2024. Abstract submission deadline extended to 22 April.
East Mediterranean Region: WONCA Regional Conference in Amman Jordan, 17 – 19 October 2024.
Also in EMR, the General Medicine National Congress in Tangiers, Morocco. 9 – 12 May, 2024.
Stay tuned for the comprehensive April edition of WONCA News, arriving next week with more updates, opportunities, and insights. Thank you for your unwavering dedication to family medicine!
