WONCA is an unusual, yet convenient acronym comprising the first five initials of the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians. WONCA's short name is World Organization of Family Doctors.

The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) is a not-for-profit organization and was founded in 1972 by member organizations in 18 countries. WONCA now has 118 Member Organizations in 131 countries and territories with membership of about 500,000 family doctors and more than 90 per cent of the world’s population. This includes eight organizations in collaborative relations with WONCA. There are some 21 members in the Academic membership category, which consists of Academic Departments of Family Medicine. Over 800 individual general practitioners and family physicians have chosen to join WONCA in their own right. The Mission of WONCA is to improve the quality of life of the peoples of the world through defining and promoting its values, including respect for universal human rights and including gender equity, and by fostering high standards of care in general practice/family.

21st WONCA World Conference of Family Doctors will be convened in Brazil on 2-6 November 2016.

Family Medicine in Brazil is a well developed career which was admired by WHO annual report in 2008 as an exemplar for developing countries.

Professor Amanda Howe, an accomplished British General Practitioner will announce her tenure as WONCA President during the World Conference.

The themes that will be discussed in the coming conference are as follows:

- People, policy and poetry - three reasons for the success of family medicine

- Primary Health Care reform in Rio de Janeiro

- Advancing global family medicine through international partnerships: samba, stories, strategies and suggestions.

- It takes two to tango. The Patient, his/her doctor and the reason for encounter

- Why so few patients benefit from the drugs they take and why so many are killed by them

- General practice development in China: challenges and opportunities

Registration is now open and there is a considerable discount for Junior Doctors / Trainees (Until 5 years from the end of the residence program), students and the ones who register until 14 October 2016. Moreover there is 36% discount in registration fee for applicants from developing countries.

For more information please click here.

Dr. Shima Naghavi, Director of International Affairs