Happy Family doctor day to all WONCA Europe family doctors and general practitioners,
World Family Doctor Day was first declared by WONCA in 2010 and it has become a day to highlight the role and contribution of family doctors and primary care teams around the world.
This day is a good opportunity to acknowledge the important role of Family Doctors in the delivery of personal, comprehensive, and continuing health care for patients and their families. It’s also a chance to thank you all for the hard work done coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
New terms like "lockdown", "social distancing", "travel restrictions", "personal protecting equipment", "R constant", "epidemiological inquiries", "PCR swab tests", "spike protein", "mRNA based vaccination" entered our professional and personal lives. But it seems that Europe is starting to recover. Each country is in a different stage on the way out of the pandemic. Vaccination campaigns are taking place all around, vaccinations production and distribution are getting more effective and “vaccination hesitation” is now one of the greatest challenges and family doctors and general practitioners have an important role in the way out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The theme of Family Doctor day this year is "Building the Future with Family Doctors".
Our 2021 theme is based on four fundamental pillars with key elements to move forward and overcome the challenges towards a better future.
The Four Pillars are:
- Building the Future with Family Doctors and Primary Care Teams
- Building the Future with Family Doctors and Patients
- Building the Future with Family Doctors and new technologies
- Building the Future with Family Doctors and YOU!
Let’s hope that in the next Family Doctors Day we will go back to celebrate in the good old way, with any travel restrictions and by meeting each other face-to-face.
Yours,
Professor Shlomo Vinker
WONCA Europe President