From the CEO's desk: reminders from vacation

Hello again

It’s a somewhat shorter column this month, as I will be on holiday when you read this, and activities have slowed a little for the holiday period. Last month I featured Brazil and also mentioned some of the other regional conferences which will come up in 2016, and I’m using this column to update you on all of these events

Plenary speakers for Brazil

Last month I highlighted that a number of plenary speakers had already been identified for Rio in November 2016. Now, in addition to Amanda Howe (UK), Katherine Rouleau (Canada) and Peter Gotzsche (Denmark), we can confirm a further two plenary speakers.

Dr Atai Omorotu of Uganda (pictured at right) will be known to many. A very dynamic and motivated colleague, she has been involved with WONCA over many years, most especially through the WONCA Working Party on Women in Family Medicine and as a member of the Organizational Equity Committee. Last year Atai volunteered to go to Liberia to work with victims of the Ebola outbreak and was there for about six months. Her plenary will particularly focus on her experiences in Liberia, and she will doubtless have many interesting and thought-provoking reflections to share with us all.

Professor ZENG Yi-Xin is Professor and Head of Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, and the current Chair of the Chinese Society of General Practitioners. China is undergoing significant health reforms, including a massive expansion of primary care and family medicine, and Professor ZENG will share the Chinese experiences with the delegates in Rio. He delivered a similar presentation to the WONCA Asia Pacific conference in Chinese Taipei earlier this year and it really was most interesting and informative.

Finally we still hope very much to have some senior WHO representatives present, but confirmation of this is awaited.

Istanbul – final reminder

A final reminder this month about the forthcoming WONCA Europe conference which we still look forward to in Istanbul from 22nd to 25th October. More details about the Istanbul conference are available on the conference website.

2016 regional conferences

I also mentioned several regional conferences, which will take place in 2016. We can now confirm that the WONCA Eastern Mediterranean Region conference has been confirmed for Dubai, in Le Meridien Hotel, from 17th to 19th March 2016. We will send out further details as and when we get them.

A reminder of the other regional conferences throughout 2016:

- South Asia Region conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 13th and 14th February. See www.woncasar2016.com for further details.
- Iberoamericana-CIMF Summit in Costa Rica on 11th and 12th April, with Mesoamerican Conference 14th to 17th April
- Europe Region conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 15th to 18th June. See the conference website  for more details.

WONCA Direct Membership

I would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that significant discounts on delegate registration are available at all WONCA conferences to WONCA Direct Members. Brazil is offering particularly generous discounts to WONCA Direct Members so now would be an excellent time to consider taking out this individual membership.

Direct Membership is normally available for three years, for $140, but with a discount for anyone from less developed countries. Even better value is:

Life Direct Membership which is to support the work of WONCA through a one-off donation, currently $750. For this Life Direct Members, as well as supporting the work of WONCA, also get a special certificate, a unique lapel pin and their name is entered onto the Roll of Honour on the WONCA website.

Further details about Direct Membership and Life Direct Membership can be found on our website.
Or contact Arisa, our Membership Officer, on [email protected].

Until next month.

Dr Garth Manning
CEO