World Family Doctor Day May 19, 2018

World Family Doctor Day (FDD) is celebrated on May 19 every year to highlight the role and contribution of family doctors in health care systems around the world. It provides an opportunity to acknowledge the central role of family physicians in the delivery of personal, comprehensive and continuing health care for all their patients. It’s also a chance to celebrate the progress being made in family medicine and the special contributions of family doctors globally.

The FDD was first declared by WONCA (World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians/ World Organization of Family Doctors) in 2010.

The theme for FDD 2018 is “Family doctors –leading the way to better health”.

Family doctors have always been the backbone of health care. They can provide comprehensive, compassionate, and people-centred care in achieving the goal of universal health coverage; a visionary decision taken by the Government of India in the form of “Ayushman Bharat Programme”.  

 Facts about family doctors:

• Family doctors play an important role in access to health care as they are geographically distributed across the country more equitably than physicians from any other specialty.
• They are linking the community to the higher medical centers for  specialized health care
• They improve overall health of community in terms of preventive services, better management of chronic illnesses.
• Family doctor helps to reduce health disparities in underserved populations lacking access to primary health care.
• They are more aware about the specific needs of the community; and changing epidemiological patterns and variations in available resources so they can be important person in planning various health services.

Family physicians can provide quality and cost-effective healthcare; their close contact with society can be helpful in management of non-communicable diseases and also for strengthening of preventive and promotive health related activities in the community. Because of these qualities, family doctors can add value to systems of primary health care.  

References-

www.globalfamilydoctor.com/member/ForMemberOrganizations/WorldFamilyDoctorDay.aspx

www.globalfamilydoctor.com/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/resources/Executive%20summary_Kidd_02c.pdf