WONCA Europe

📢 The March 2025 WONCA Europe Newsletter is live! Here's what's inside: 👩⚕️ European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM) President Daria Gheorghe on youth & family medicine 📢 Why FM should be recognized as a specialty in the EU 🌍 WONCA 2025: Prof. MEHMET UNGAN on Lisbon's vision 📚 We endorse gender-neutral #HPVvaccination 💡 EGPRN's 100th meeting focuses on telehealth 🧠 Take part in our Social Prescribing survey 📩 Read now: https://pnc.ee/wen0325 #WONCAEurope #GPNews #PrimaryCare #FamilyMedicine

EU #HealthLeaders and #FamilyDoctors Urge Action on #Workforce & #Digitalization On March 18th 2025, Member of the #EuropeanParliament (MEP) Romana Jerković invited family doctors to a meeting at the #EUParliament, organized by the European Union of General Practitioners/Family Physicians (uemo) President Tiago M. Villanueva and his team. The meeting was also attended by MEP and former Lithuanian Health Minister Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, along with key stakeholders, including Katarzyna Ptak-Bufkens (DG SANTE), Johan Bakke (Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), Călin Bumbulut (UEMO), Alvaro Cerame (European Junior Doctors Association - EJD), Ana Catarina Moreira (UEMO), and Sara Ares (WONCA Europe Working Party on #PolicyAdvocacy). Discussions focused on the urgent need for concrete actions to address #healthcareworkforce challenges and #digitaltransformation in the EU. ✅ Romana Jerković stressed the need for immediate action rather than prolonged strategizing, expressing concern over the ongoing healthcare strikes in Croatia. She emphasized prioritizing investment in healthcare personnel, ensuring patient information accessibility, and safeguarding the well-being of GPs and other healthcare professionals. ✅ Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis highlighted the shortage of doctors, particularly in rural and underserved areas, a shared challenge across the EU. He called for a strong healthcare network to deliver a unified message to #policymakers, referencing the Bucharest Declaration as a key framework for workforce improvements. ✅ Sara Ares (WE Working Party on Policy Advocacy) underscored the need for common European healthcare data to assess both population and workforce needs. She advocated for better #primarycare services, access to more #diagnostictests, streamlined administrative tasks—such as simplifying short-term #sickleave procedures—and increased investment in primary care research. ✅ Alvaro Cerame (EJD) presented the perspectives of young physicians on workforce challenges, recruitment, and retention, sharing insights from the recent EJD study "From Tradition to Transition." ✅ Katarzyna Ptak-Bufkens (DG SANTE) emphasized the potential of EU-wide collaboration and innovative models to adapt to evolving healthcare needs. She stressed that primary care serves as a barometer for the overall system and that reducing burdens on healthcare workers should take precedence over increased multitasking ✅ Johan Bakke (CPME) and Călin Bumbulut (UEMO) reinforced the importance of recognizing #GeneralPractice #FamilyMedicine as a specialty across all EU member states ✅ The stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening primary care and improving citizens' health. The WONCA Europe Working Party on #PolicyAdvocacy extends its gratitude to MEP Romana Jerković and uemo for organizing this important meeting Andrée Rochfort Maria Pilar Astier Pena Raquel Gómez Bravo Shlomo Vinker Thomas Frese Eva Hummers For more => https://pnc.ee/aKx5x7Y

WONCA Europe at the #SocialPrescribing-Europe (#SP-EU) Project 1st General Assembly meeting, 19-21/03/2025 in Berlin ✅ From 19 to 21 March 2025, WONCA Europe participated in the #SP-EU Project 1st General Assembly meeting which took place at the Auditorium at the Charité Cross Over, University of Medicine in Berlin, Germany, and was attended by Dr. Ferdinando Petrazzuoli , member of the WONCA Europe Executive Board. ✅ The #SP-EU Project is aimed at promoting and improving access to health and care services for people in vulnerable situations in Europe. ✅ The project team leaders include three WONCA Europe members, Dr. Aaron Poppleton, Professor Joyce Kenkre and Doctor Ferdinando Petrazzuoli. ✅ The coordinator of this Horizon For Europe Project is the CHARITE - BERLIN (Charité), Berlin, Germany. Overall, 22 European Institutions in 11 European Countries are involved (https://lnkd.in/eY7EfZYj). ✅ WONCA Europe is a partner in this project and benefits from the collaboration of the WONCA Europe Special Interest Group on Social Prescribing and Community Orientation. ✅ In the project, the consortium will focus on three exemplary groups of persons in vulnerable situations: #LGBTIQ persons, refugees and first general immigrants and older adults living alone.

“Our aim is to foster connections between young FDs whilst also promoting #FM”. An interview with Daria Gheorghe, European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM)'s President ✅ There is an overall feeling of friendliness and peer-support at our events that participants appreciate and which leaves them feeling even more motivated about our lovely specialty   ✅ We wish for as many of our members as possible to attend our events but we know that this is a challenge for lower income country members   ✅ I think #FamilyMedicine might evolve to an even more global patient approach through community health and social prescribing all whilst paying more attention to the social determinants in health.   Daria Gheorghe was born and grew up in Romania where she attended "Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy" in Bucharest. She did her specialty training in #FamilyMedicine in Strasbourg (France) where she is currently working as a #GeneralPractitioner but also at the #FamilyPlanning providing sexual health consultations and at the Office for Immigration and Integration, providing healthcare consultations for refugees and asylum seekers Daria will start a new position at the Medical University of Strasbourg at the end of Spring in teaching and research in #FamilyMedicine Dr Gheorghe has been actively involved in various organizations since she was a student: member of EMSA (European Medical Students Association) as a medical student, President of the regional association for #familymedicine trainees in Alsace (France) as well as member of the Executive Board of the National Union for Family Medicine Trainees and French National Delegate for European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM) before becoming President European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM) World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) For more => https://pnc.ee/LlpEZk3

New vision for primary health care and sustainable development. #WONCAWorld2025 ✅ We are honoured to welcome distinguished keynote speakers who are leaders in global health, primary care innovation, primary care workforce, quadruple aim and health system transformation ✅ This conference is a unique opportunity for #FamilyDoctors / #GPs to gain new insights, exchange best practices, and engage with colleagues from across the globe 👉 Prof MEHMET UNGAN is acting as the co-chair of the WONCA World Conference 2025 Conference Scientific Committee and the past President of the WONCA Europe. Currently active Professor at Ankara University Department of #FamilyMedicine (FM). He is also Past President of the European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN). He is one of the founders of Turkish Association of Family Physicians and served as President. He was certified as GP Trainer in University of Exeter Postgraduate Medical School, UK Worked as director of a university medical centre and as an advisor of the Ministry on FM/GP. He is in editorial boards of many Primary Care journals.  👉 Prof MEHMET UNGAN was involved in organizing the WONCA Europe and its networks Conferences in Turkey in 2003, 2008, and 2015.  Trained in Global Tuberculosis (TB) Institute, Newark-NY (USA). Currently he is a board member of IPPA and an expert in WHO Regional Office for Europe on #PrimaryCare.  Works with European Cancer Organization and leads the EU Project packages. 👉 Prof MEHMET UNGAN has been providing scholarship to undergraduate-university students after the devastating earthquakes where many families were destroyed. With his team he has been helping the refugees living in #Turkey, who were regarded  as temporary guests, in their health needs and immunizations trying to be a health bridge between United Nations, IOM - UN Migration, ICMC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 👉 In addition to books and book chapters, he has more than 100 printed international original articles. He has a preferred place in the professor assignment in international juries of academic positions in foreign universities as well as national inter-universities commission duties. 👉 We wanted to sit down with Prof MEHMET UNGAN to know more about the WONCA World Conference 2025 #WONCAWorld2025 For more => https://pnc.ee/NoRYQXD

Don’t miss this opportunity! World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) WONCA Europe Associação Portuguesa de Medicina Geral e Familiar - APMGF

🔵 As part of World Health Day on 7 April, #POINT_project is participating in the World Health Day initiative, joining efforts to launch the first health-related social media campaign, with the hashtag #EUResearch4Health. From Monday 7 April and over the following days, the campaign will gather contributions from each project, stating how the research is supporting healthcare systems and #Health4All. https://lnkd.in/eCnC6dvB

#Telehealth is an evolving reality in modern #primarycare, and this conference will critically explore its role, limitations, and opportunities. A highlight is the #BlueDotCoffeesession on the first day, where newcomers are especially welcomed and introduced to the network. #GPresearch matters, and that #telehealth and #AI in healthcare are important topics that should be researched by #GPs to ensure their implementation aligns with patient-centred care   Hans Thulesius is a professor of general practice and a practicing GP with nearly three decades of experience in academic primary care. He earned his PhD in 2003 with a thesis on cancer from a primary care perspective and has since supervised numerous PhD students and taught extensively at medical schools in Lund and Linköping, Sweden, as well as in Riga, Latvia. From 2009 to 2024, Hans served as the Swedish national representative to EGPRN and has been deeply involved in international research collaborations across multiple disciplines. With over 200 publications to his name, he remains passionate about mentoring medical students and supporting their master's theses. We wanted to sit down with Hans to know more about the EGPRN 100th Conference. “#Telehealth: Its Benefits, #Quality, and #Safety"#EGPRNgothenburg  8th to 11th May 2025. For more => https://pnc.ee/ANVNZlp

⏳ Only a few days left! The WONCA World Conference 2025 in Lisbon is accepting abstract submissions until March 31, 2025! 🌍 Present on the global stage 💡 Shape the future of healthcare 🚀 Boost your professional profile 📣 Disseminate your research 🤝 Gain feedback & collaborate ✨ Network in Lisbon | 17–21 September 2025 🖥️ Submit your abstract now at www.woncaworld2025.org #woncaworld2025 #FamilyMedicine #CallForAbstracts #PrimaryCare #GlobalHealth #Lisbon2025 EGPRN European Academy of Teachers in General Practice (EURACT) European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM)

🔙 Previous Events & Highlights   1. Universal Health Coverage Session – WHO Video Recording WONCA made a statement during the Universal Health Coverage session at the WHO Executive Board (EB156). You can watch the video recording here: 🔗 WHO UHC Session Recording 📌 The statement is available from minute 56:23 to 57:59 in session number 6.   2. Media engagement: Interview in Médico Interactivo WONCA's advocacy efforts were recently featured in an interview published by Médico Interactivo. The interview was conducted from Geneva and highlights the importance of prioritizing family medicine in EU policies. 📌 Read the full article here: 🔗 WONCA urges EU states to prioritize family medicine   3.  Recorded Webinars – If you missed it! Didn't have a chance to attend recent key discussions? Here are some recorded sessions you can watch:   🎙️Patient-Reported Indicator Surveys (PaRIS) 🔗 Read Here   🎙️ WE Talk with Minna Johansson: “Who wants to work 27 hours a day? - Time Needed to Treat (TNT)” 🔗 Listen Here   🎥 Countering misinformation and disinformation: The role of trust in health systems 🔗 WHO Webinar 🔗 YouTube Recording   🎥 The Co-benefits of Health and Health Systems for Democracy 🔗 WHO EPW2 Hearings Click here for the Newsletter    Upcoming events – Save the date!   📆 MDD Minds Closing Event – March 24, 2025 📍 Mundo Madou, Brussels, Belgium WONCA World is hosting the MDD Minds Closing Event on Monday, March 24, 2025. This event will bring together global leaders and change-makers to reflect on the achievements of the MDD Minds project and explore next steps to strengthen mental health care through primary care systems worldwide. 📌 More details: 🔗 MDD Minds Closing Event   📆 Please note that the deadline for WONCA World Conference deadline is at the end of March. Check out the details here: 🔗 WONCA World 2025 Conference Topics   📆 EU Open Data Days 2025 Follow the latest developments and insights on open data in the EU! 🔗 EU Open Data Days Stay engaged and continue advocating for stronger primary care and family medicine worldwide! 🚀 Thank you for your continued support and engagement!   We look forward to seeing you at these important events and working together to strengthen primary care globally.   Best regards, Executive Board of the WE Working Party on Policy Advocacy