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WONCA AFRICA REGION WHO 72ND REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR AFRICA

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PREAMBLE

The meeting was held at the prestigious CENTRE INTERNATIONAL DES CONFERENCES DE LOME 2226August2022. However, on Sunday 21 August 2022, WALK THE TALK event was held and all participants were encouraged to join and T-shirts were given to participants. The WHO DG TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS who incidentally started his second tenure in office a week earlier on the 16th of August 2022 wasinattendance.

The WHO AFRO Regional Director Dr Matshidiso Moettiwaspresenttooandleadtheprocess. Most Ministers of Health in Africa, stakeholders and WHO partners from Europe, Asia, America etc wereinattendance. The president of the Togo Republic Faure Gnassingbe declared the meeting open. The president got an award for eradicating four neglected Chronic NCDs in the Togo Republic. Togo, therefore, became the first country to achieve this feat. He said among other things that his country was able to achieve this feat through the recruitment of over 7,000 healthcare workers within 10 years and by expanding healthcare facilities. He summarized by saying that ‘he made the impossible possible through imagination and determination. The meeting agenda was divided into 4 main pillarswithmanysubtitlesundereachpillar.

There were presentations considered very important and necessary which were not on the agenda but were taken during lunch time; those who were interested participated in such meetings. There were other pieces of training done at night which were sponsored by some ministers.

Pillar 1. One billion more people benefitting fromuniversalhealthcoverage:

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- A regional strategy to address severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases [NCDs] at the intermediate level of national health systems was adopted. - Framework to strengthen the implementation of the GLOBAL Mental Health action plan [20132030] wasadopted. - Financial risk protection towards universal health coverage in the WHO Africa region was adopted.

Pillar 2. One billion more people better protectedfromhealthemergencies:

- Regional strategy for health security and emergencies2022-2030wasadopted.

Pillar 3. One billion more people enjoying betterhealthandwellbeing:

- Updated regional strategy for the management of environmental determinants of human health intheAfricaregion2022-2032wasadopted.

Pillar 4. More effective and efficient WHO providingbettersupporttocountries.

- Progress report on the African health observatorywaspresentedandadopted. - Launch of the Regional Campaign Against Sickle Cell Disease on Tues 23rd AUG 2022 and the panellists were the Ministers of Health of Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, SickleInAfrica representative and US Department of Human and Health Services /OGA. The Regional Director Dr Matshidiso Moetti gave the opening and closing remarks and it was adopted to be supported stronglybytheRegion.

- The session on Artificial Intelligence was hosted by the Minister of economic transformation of Togo on Thursday 25th August 2022 and it was wellreceivedbytheRegion. We currently have only English-speaking Member OrganizationsinAfricaregion. I made contacts with Drs from DRC, Benin Republic, Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, etc.

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DR DAN ABUBAKAR

P R E S I D E N T , W O N C A A F R I C A R E G I O N .

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WONCA IBEROAMERICANA - CIMF A CALL TO HONOUR SALVADOR TRANCHE

A N D A T R I B U T E I N G U A T E M A L A

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The Iberoamerican Confederation WONCA CIMF, together with María Fernández, vice president of the Iberican Region of CIMF, to pay tribute to Salvador Tranche with a special call on research in Family and Community Medicine. This celebration will take place during the VIII FCM SummitscheduledforNovemberinGuatemala. María Fernández, acting president of the semFYC after the sudden passing of President Salvador Tranche, highlighted the role that Salvador Tranche played in the WONCA CIMF. “During the pandemic, he was always connected, even late at night, talking with colleagues from Latin America abouthowtodealwithCOVID-19inourregion. ” Salvador Tranche shared with family doctors worldwide the evidence and actions taken in Spain during the most challenging moments of the pandemic. In the same way, he highlighted the role of the semFYC battling the invisibility to which Primary Care and Family Medicine is often the victim. The same invisibility that our level of care suffers in the rest of the countries of the Ibero- American region. All this, even though Primary Care professionals and family doctors were essential in managing and preventing the adverseeffectsofthepandemic. Jacqueline Ponzo, president of WONCA CIMF, and the rest of the board encouraged all family doctors to apply for this special call made in homage to our president Salvador Tranche. An honouralsosharedbysemFYC. Jacqueline Ponzo, who presented the Salvador Tranche call during the National Congress in Seville, stated: "Salvador Tranche was a very dear person. The Spanish Ministry of Health also recognized his role with a special commission in tributetohiscareer. "

The Guatemala Summit will be the first physical reunion of the Ibero-American community of family doctors after the pandemic, making it a long-awaited event. “This congress arises from a need and a request made by Guatemala. This is especially relevant because Guatemala does not yet have the specialty of Family and Community Medicine in place, so holding a WONCA CIMF summit there will undoubtedly be an interesting experience at a political, educational and scientificlevel. ” Discover all the information on how to apply for theSalvadorTranchecallhere[+].(InSpanish)

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WONCA SOUTH ASIA BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH, POLICY, AND ADVOCACY TO STRENGTHEN FAMILY MEDICINE IN SOUTH ASIA

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

INTRODUCTION

South Asia, constituting India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Afghanistan represents the most populous region in the world. Unfortunately, despite obvious need, the field of primary care and family medicine in this region is underdeveloped and at a nascent stage. As a result, strengthening primary care systems and familymedicineinSouthAsianeedstobeaglobal imperative. Towards this goal, besides advocacy, educational programs, and support for clinical family medicine practice, fostering research in Primary Care by practicing family physicians is critical.

Any field, for it to stay relevant and to effectively achieve its stated mission, needs to produce its own knowledge through research. This knowledge gleaned through research translates into patient care, practice models, education, and advocacyforhealthstrengtheningandreform. EffortsbyWONCASouthAsiaRegion SinceNov2021,asapartofthecurrentleadership committee of WONCA South Asia, we have taken several concrete steps to build the foundation for primarycareresearchinSouthAsia. We aimed to nurture a cadre of researchers in family medicine and primary care who contribute to the primary care/family medicine perspective to improve patient outcomes, efficiency, transparency and sustainability of health care delivery in the South Asian context. Additionally, we wanted to create a platform for family medicine/primary care clinicians, health services researchers,andotherexpertstoaddressthe common, but complex, issues surrounding contemporary health care in the South Asian contexttoharnesssynergiesandincreaseimpact. Accomplishmentsthusfar:

Authors: Dr. Tariq Aziz, President WONCA South Asia Region (SAR) Dr. Hina Jawaid, Chair WONCA SAR Primary Care Research Network Dr. Ramakrishna Prasad, Editor WONCA SAR Journal

a) Establishing regular communication betweenleaders.

- Apart from attending numerous meetings (in person or online) both regionally and globally President SAR Dr Tariq Aziz attended the WONCA council in person at the Royal College of General PractitionersinLondonUKon27thJune2022. b) Seeding research teams that involve several youngFPinvestigatorsfromacrossSouthAsia

- Challenges faced by practising Family physicians in South Asia in conducting research. (study underway) - Climate change and Health disclosure: A multinationalcross-sectionalstudyofSouthAsian Physicians’ knowledge and perception about health effects of climate change. (manuscript submitted to an international journal ‘Family Practice’) - Breast cancer knowledge among health professionals: A pre-post knowledge-based intervention study (manuscript submitted for publicationinPubMedindexedjournal) - Knowledge and use of different types of contraceptive methods to prevent pregnancy and STIs among women in the reproductive age group.(Studyunderway)

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c) Monthly Research, Leadership, and Policy seminarseries

Sofar,thefollowinghavebeenconducted: - Supporting Primary Care Research by Dr Ramakrishna Prasad & Dr Hina Jawaid on 28th Dec2021 - Research overview & Study design: Basic tips for beginnersbyDrBasharatAli&DrTehzeebZulfiqar on11thMarch2022 - Rural Primary Care Practice, Research & LeadershipbyDrPavitraMohanon30thMay2022 - Developing Family Medicine/Primary Care Education, Faculty and Leadership in South Asia: Lessons from an African context by Dr Kenneth Yakubuon20thAug2022 - Research Ethics and Plagiarism by Dr Mariam Hasanscheduledfor14thSeptember2022

d)Advocacyandwritinginthelaypress:

Newspaper columns, written by eminent Family Medicine faculty who are actively involved in teaching, training and research work locally, nationally and regionally. Dr. Hina Jawaid and Dr. Abdul Jalil Khan from Pakistan have been writing a series of articles on primary care and other health related issues on a regular basis. Articles on obesity and breastfeeding were co-authored by Dr. Tehzeeb Zufiqar and Dr. Marriam Sheraz. Listoftheirpublishedcolumnsinclude: 1) Breast Cancer: myths, reality, and solutions! https://dailytimes.com.pk/688891/breast-cancermyths-reality-and-solution/ (Article published in TheDailyTimesnewspaperon14thNov2020) 2) The mystery of unsafe injections in Pakistan. https://dailytimes.com.pk/712318/the-mysteryof-unsafe-injections-in-pakistan/ (Article published in The Daily Times newspaper on12thJan2021) 3)PrimarycareinPakistan:currentsituationand wayforward. https://dailytimes.com.pk/735132/primary-carein-pakistan-current-situation-and-way-forward/ (ArticlepublishedinTheDailyTimesnewspaper on17thMarch2021) 4)Diabetes:Notimetolose. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/832389diabetes-no-time-to-lose(PublishedinTheNews onSunday9thMay2021intheNewsonSunday) 5)Thewaytouniversalhealthcoverage. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/855459the-way-to-universal-health-coverage(Published inTheNewsonSunday27thJune2021) 6)PrimaryCaretransformation). https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/865545primary-care-transformation(PublishedinThe NewsonSunday18thJuly2021) 7)Acallformedicaleducationreforms). https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/878247a-call-for-medical-education-reforms(Published inTheNewsonSunday15thAug2021) 8)Needforleadershipinprimaryhealthcare). https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/893419need-for-leadership-in-primary-healthcare (PublishedinTheNewsonSunday19thSept 2021) 9)Littleawarenessaboutbreastcancer). https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/904509little-awareness-about-breast-cancer(Published inTheNewsonSunday31stOct2021) 10)Medicallicensing. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/925442medical-licensing(ColumnpublishedinTheNews onSundayon16thJan2022) 11)Nutritionalneedsinearlyyearsoflife. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/944802nutritional-needs-in-early-years-of-life(Column publishedinTheNewsonSundayon27thMarch 2022) 12)Dealingwithobesity. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/946765dealing-with-obesity(ColumnpublishedinThe NewsonSundayon3rdApril2022)

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13)Trainingprimarycaredoctors. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/963416training-primary-care-doctors(Columnpublished inTheNewsonSundayon5thJune2022) 14)Trainingprimary-caredoctors—II https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/967255training-primary-care-doctors-ii(Column publishedinTheNewsonSundayon19thJune 2022) 15)Thecostofcoping. https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/974203the-cost-of-coping(ColumnpublishedinThe NewsonSundayon17thJuly2022) 16)GuestEditorial:Burdenofthedisease https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/977970burden-of-the-disease(ColumnpublishedinThe NewsonSundayon31stJuly2022) 17)Allthereasonstobreastfeed https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/980230all-the-reasons-to-breastfeed(Columnpublished inTheNewsonSundayon7thAug2022) Click here to read the Select peer reviewed publications(2021-2022) The Path Forward: Priority Areas for future action, research, policy, and advocacy to strengthen FamilyMedicineintheSouthAsia: 1. Using a range of research methods, including mappingtoolsandpolicyanalyses,to a) Determine trends in the supply, training and distributionoftheprimarycareworkforce b) Evaluate and improve quality of care through accreditation, c)Evaluatepaymentmodelsandtheirimpact, d) To appraise workforce shortages and maldistribution, e) To conduct robust needs and systems assessmentatmultiplelevelsofthehealthsystem 2. Generation and contribution of data and policy analyses and advocate for solutions that bring family medicine and primary care perspectives to health policy deliberations at the local, state, and internationallevels.

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3. Establish partnerships and collaborations with individualsandinstitutionsinordertoaccomplish theaboveinanimpactfulmanner. 4. Serve as an incubation space for primary care research, writing, and education by facilitating and supporting scholarship, writing, and publication in primary care especially among medical students, family medicine residents and faculty, and practicing family physicians and generalpractitioners Through promoting research our aim is to encourage a shift from experience-based to evidence-based clinical practices among GPs and engage in health advocacy. Additionally, we must strive to further promote and nurture the core principles of Family Medicine and the ‘hidden curriculum’ that influences primary care at both undergraduateandpostgraduatelevel. Notable contributors to research from WONCA SouthAsiaRegion(2021-2022)

1-DrTariqAziz(PresidentWONCASAR) 2-Dr.RamakrishnaPrasad 3-DrHinaJawaid 4-DrBasharatAli 5-Dr.RamanKumar 5-DrAbdulJalilKhan 6-DrTehzeebZulfiqar 7-Ms.SwaatiBalasubramanian 8-DrWaseemAyeshaHana 9-DrHassamKhan 10-DrFerdousRehman 11-DrSankhaRandenikumara 12-DrKinleyBhuti 13-DrHusna 15-DrSadiaMustafa 16-DrMarriamSheraz 17-DrAsifRehman