World Family Doctor Day Celebrates the Role of General Practice

The World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) is encouraging all General Practitioners to commit to delivering high quality family care during its World Family Doctor Day awareness campaign today (Monday 19 May).
Professor Michael Kidd, Patron of General Practice Students Network (GPSN) and  WONCA President says despite WONCA representing more than 500,000 family doctors based around the globe and representing a staggering two billion consultations annually, more needs to be done.
“We need to work to ensure that every family doctor, every GP, every primary care doctor, joins us in our commitment to deliver high quality primary care to our patients and communities.
“We need to expand our commitment to the education and training of family doctors and quality care and primary care research to all nations of the world and we need to work with the World Health Organization and our other global partners to ensure the continuing support for strong family medicine to ensure the delivery of quality primary health care and universal health coverage in every community in every country.
“Over the past year I have had the opportunity to visit many dedicated family doctors in their communities in rural and urban areas and to talk about the challenges they face in ensuring the health and well-being of their patients.
“As family doctors we all work hard. I know that many of you work under very difficult conditions, that the resources that you need to do your job are often not available, that the hours you work and the demands on your time can be arduous, that your resilience is tested regularly and I know that many of you often feel unappreciated, not often hearing the words ‘thank you’.
“This is why WONCA has established World Family Doctor Day, held on May 19 each year, to acknowledge the important work that you do,” Prof. Kidd says.
Chair of GPRA Dr David Chessor says World Family Doctor Day is a wonderful recognition of the vital role that GPs play.
"Today I'm not only going to celebrate my own family’s GPs, but also the dedicated supervisors and medical educators who continue to help shape me and many other GPRA members into highly skilled providers of comprehensive, patient-centred primary care.”
In a statement released promoting World Family Doctor Day, WONCA says governments around the world are beginning to realise the value of general practice.
"In some countries, there is work to do and celebrating World Family Doctor Day will open up many opportunities to highlight the important contributions of family doctors," the statement reads.
"World Family Doctor Day is a fantastic idea that celebrates the positive influence general practitioners have on their communities and the important work they do in preventative health.
World Family Doctor Day was launched by the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) in Mexico in 2010 and the event has grown considerably, the day now celebrated in Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, Egypt, India, Iraq, Taiwan, Kuwait, Romania and many more countries around the globe