WONCA Europe Statement on the Recognition of the Specialty of Family Medicine / General Practice in the European Region
Statement on the Recognition of the Specialty of Family Medicine / General Practice in the European Region WONCA Europe strongly endorses the full recognition of Family Medicine / General Practice as a medical specialty within the European Union and the European region. We call for its inclusi...
2025 Public
WONCA Europe Dublin 2024 Statement
Cultivating the Future - One size does not fit all Family medicine plays a crucial role in primary care by offering comprehensive, continuous, and personalised healthcare to individuals of all ages, often serving as the first point of contact within the healthcare system. It manage...
2024 Public
WONCA Europe position paper on the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in primary care
Ultrasound has been described as 'the Stethoscope for the 21st Century'. Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) can answer a specific clinical question or support a specific procedural aim within a routine clinical consultation. Its use within family medicine is rapidly increasing...
2024 Public
Position statement PRICOV endorsed by EQuIP
Position paper Moving Forward After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned in Primary Care The Covid-19 pandemic presented a significant challenge to primary care (PC), its organization, the people working in it, and its interfaces with the w...
2023 Public
THE EUROPEAN DEFINITION OF GENERAL PRACTICE / FAMILY MEDICINE. WONCA EUROPE 2023 Edition
THE EUROPEAN DEFINITION OF GENERAL PRACTICE / FAMILY MEDICINE WONCA EUROPE 2023 Edition THE EUROPEAN DEFINITION OF GENERAL PRACTICE / FAMILY MEDICINE WONCA EUROPE 2023 Edition THE WONCA TREE – AS PRODUCED BY THE SWISS COLLEGE OF PRIMARY ...
2023 Public
WONCA Europe 2023 Brussels: Shortage of European Primary Health Care Workforce Statement
Excessive workload, early burnout, and the shortage of the primary care workforce are interconnected factors representing the most formidable challenge of the near future. The complexity of the shortage of doctors and other healthcare professionals in European primary care necessitates a comprehe...
2023 Public
WONCA Europe Recommendation on Qualifications for General Practice/Family Medicine Academic Posts in the Universities and Academic Units
By World Organization of Family Doctors Region-Europe (WONCA Europe) WONCA Europe aims to provide evidence and guidance to Decision Makers, Rectors, Deans, Department Heads, Academic Administrators and to those others responsible for recruiting academic staff for GP/...
2023 Public
WONCA Europe Recommendation on the role of Primary Health in the care for patients with chronic respiratory diseases
Background Nearly 200 million people (4% of the world’s population) have COPD, and 3.2 million die of it each year, making it the third leading cause of death worldwide, and probably significantly under-counted due to under- or mis-diagnosis. Asthma affects more than 350 million pe...
2023 Public
WONCA EUROPE STATEMENT FOR THE 73rd SESSION OF THE WHO REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR EUROPE SHORTAGE OF EUROPEAN PRIMARY CARE WORKFORCE
WONCA EUROPE STATEMENT FOR THE 73rd SESSION OF THE WHO REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR EUROPE SHORTAGE OF EUROPEAN PRIMARY CARE WORKFORCE The interconnected challenges of excessive workload, premature burnout, and a shortage of primary care personnel represe...
2023 Public
WONCA Europe London 2022 Statement
WONCA, as an academic organisation of General Practitioners/Family Doctors, demands the recognition of General Practitioners/Family Doctors as Specialists. General Practice is the cornerstone of any patient centred, sustainable and cost effective health system. General Practitioners/Family Doc...
2022 Public
CORE VALUES OF FAMILY MEDICINE: THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES - Statement of the WONCA Europe Conference 2020, Berlin
The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting every aspect of society. Obviously, it also affects healthcare provision. There are strong tendencies towards fragmentation of care. Digital technologies as a mean to tackle CoViD- 19 induced restrictions are gaining importance. Conflicting interests are i...
2020 Public
Overdiagnosis in Health Care and Overmedicalisation of the Society – 68th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
During the 68th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, on behalf of WONCA Europe, Anna Stavdal presented the statement "Overdiagnosis in health care and overmedicalisation of the society" under the agend item "Advancing public health in the WHO European Re...
2020 Public
Planetary Health & Primary Care – 67th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
WONCA Europe has released a joint statement on Planetary Health & Primary Care for the 67th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (Statement on session 5 (b): Improving environment and health in the context of Health 2020 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development)....
2020 Public
Refugee Health – 67th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
WONCA Europe has released a joint statement on Refugee Health for the 67th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (Session 5 (a): Roadmap to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, building on the Health 2020 policy framework). The statement was prepared in cooperation wi...
2020 Public
Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization: Leaving No One Behind – 68th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe
In the 68th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, Harris Lygidakis presented the statement "Vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization: leaving no one behind" on behalf of WONCA Europe. This statement was supported by: the European and World Federation of Occupa...
2020 Public
UEG and WONCA Joint Statement On: Reducing the Burden of Chronic Digestive Diseases
Chronic digestive diseases Chronic digestive diseases are long-term disorders and include, amongst others: digestive cancers, chronic liver diseases, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), coeliac disease, food allergies, gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease and functional gastroin...
2019 Public
WONCA Europe 2019 Bratislava Statement - REV 20190611
The Human Side of Medicine Learning what it's like to be a patient and what it's like to be a physician As family doctors, we become intimately involved in the life of the families we provide care for. There is an element of emotion to every interaction with our patients &ndas...
2019 Public
European Training Requirements for GP/FM Specialist Training – EURACT Document 2018
WONCA Europe and its teaching organization EURACT have produced several important documents on the definition and description of the General Practice/Family Medicine (GP/FM) specialty. EURACT specifically dealt with the different aspects of education in GP/FM – from undergraduate to special...
2018 Public
Overdiagnosis And Action to Be Taken – Position Paper 2018
Modern medicine has brought impressive benefits to humankind. A side-effect of its many successes is however an unfounded, cultural belief that more medicine is necessarily better, irrespective of context. Consequently, problems related to “too much medicine”, overdiagnosis and overtr...
2018 Public
WONCA Europe 2018 Krakow: Promoting Equity for a Better Quality of Care for All Europeans
“Everyone has the right to timely access to affordable, preventive and curative health care of good quality” is one of the 20 principles and rights proclaimed by the European Commission in 2017. EQuiP, the European Society for Quality and Safety in Family Practice, a WON...
2018 Public
WONCA Europe 2017 Prague: Growing Together in Diversity for the Benefit of All Europeans
Growing together in diversity for the benefit of all Europeans Diversity has always been one of the most defining and intrinsic characteristics of the people of Europe. The tension between diversity and a desire for uniformity has been the source of many of Europe’s great achievemen...
2017 Public
WONCA Europe 2016 Copenhagen: European Family Doctors call for Joint Action with Heads and Hearts!
Primary healthcare workers are experiencing increasing pressure from new healthcare structures, a rising patient demand for family medicine, and a shortage of resources. Many European countries face a lack of investment in primary care in contrast to ongoing high investment in specialised seconda...
2016 Public