World Organization of Family Doctors' statement at Committee A of the World Health Assembly, May 25, 2017 “A70/18 Human resources for health and implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations’ High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth”
“Good afternoon Honorable Chair, distinguished delegates. The World Organization of Family Doctors represents members from more than 150 countries in all regions of the world, and brings together those who are committed to developing family medicine as a key discipline for stronger and more effective health systems. We welcome the World Health Organization’s commitment to supporting reforms in the health workforce, particularly welcoming Recommendation 4 of the Action Plan which focuses on the development of the primary health care sector. We note the statement in the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health that “… Adequate investment in the health-care workforce, including general practice and family medicine, is required to provide community-based, person-centred, continuous, equitable and integrated care.”
We recommend that, to meet the full recommendations and achieve the outcomes desired, all parties recognize that family medicine is the key specialty whose competencies and scope of practice allow comprehensive, coordinated and person centered care that meets multiple needs for patients and communities over time. Family doctors, working with other primary care workers, can integrate patient needs for prevention, acute and chronic care across disease groups, in a way that centers care on the particular individual, their family and their context.
When appropriately trained and working within adequately resourced clinical settings, family doctors have been shown to be both cost-effective, valuable, and able to improve health outcomes in whole populations. All countries have the potential to transform their health workforce by training more family doctors as a critical part of multidisciplinary teams providing integrated, people-centred primary health care – the foundation of universal health coverage. WONCA commits our organization to continuing to work with WHO and its constituencies in Member States to achieve these outcomes, as it does to achieve the overall goal of health for all.”
