‘Welcome to WONCA’: Conference officially opens

With a message of hope, determination, passion, and pride, the WONCA 2023 World Conference has officially begun.
 
Around 2500 of the world’s leading doctors flooded into a maximum capacity Darling Harbour theatre on Thursday morning for the opening ceremony – a celebration of all that has already been achieved, and what is to come.
 
Beginning with an emotional Welcome to Country, delegates from nations far and wide were welcomed to Australia, Sydney, and WONCA 2023.
 
Host Organising Committee Chair and former RACGP President Adjunct Professor Karen Price kicked off the celebrations, declaring, after a pandemic-induced false start, ‘we made it’.
 
‘When we were awarded this conference, it was 2018 and COVID-19 was unheard of … we were not sure we would get here and in what shape, but here we are and it’s stupendous,’ she said.
 
‘I want to thank all the family doctors, all the healthcare workers and their supporters for what you did for global health during the peak of the pandemic, for what you have always done, and what you will continue to do for the world’s health.
 
‘Especially during a pandemic, or with any healthcare catastrophe, our patients’ dignity and journey provides inspiration every day, along with perspiration, and maybe sometimes even exasperation, because we are human after all.’
 
In 2023, the conference’s theme is ‘recovery, reconnection and revival in primary care’, bringing with it a sense of optimism after the pandemic that was.
 
Adjunct Professor Price said she now hopes the conference can lift the world’s family doctors up from the ‘terrible events of the last few years’.
 
‘Today at this conference, that knowledge and experience, that feeling of being a part of something bigger than any of us, will be enabled by sharing and reflecting on all the awesome presentations,’ she said.
 
‘I will know we have done our job if your eyes sparkle, if your hearts minds and souls are sparkling with the learnings, the advocacy, and the collegiality of an international primary care conference.
 
‘Be humbly proud. You do change the world, you do it in family medicine, one life at a time … have fun, be changed, and in doing so, change the world for the better.’
 
WONCA 2023 is bringing together 4000 delegates from a long list of diverse nations, from Brazil to Barbados, Norway to Nigeria, Canada to Columbia, the UK to the US.
 
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins also spoke at the conference’s opening and said despite the vast physical distances separating the audience’s clinics and experiences, the challenges facing GPs are shared.
 
‘Whether we’re talking about family doctors and GPs being undervalued and underfunded, whether we’re struggling with workforce, or looking after an ageing and more complex population, addressing equity and access, I’m here to tell you that we’re the solution,’ she said.
 
‘Each country has its unique circumstances, but we have the opportunity here over the next few days as we reconnect to actually share those solutions, to understand what other countries are doing.
 
‘We are the answer to enhancing the wellbeing of our communities and relieving the pressure on our health systems. And by properly investing in general practice and primary care, countries can make their populations healthier, and happier, and less reliant on expensive hospital systems.’
 
Speaking from a video recorded in Canberra, Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler admitted general practice has been ‘under tremendous strain for some years’, but said change is on the way.
 
‘Ensuring every Australian can get the high-quality care they deserve, to support and maintain good health – it’s a goal that, like WONCA, we hold for people around the world,’ he said.
 
‘Those who are taking part in this conference, sharing ideas, knowledge and experience, you are all bringing that goal one step closer.’
 
As the opening ceremony ended on a high note, GPs were left with a sense of determination to navigate the ever-evolving ups and downs of general practice.
 
Dr Higgins said with a world of proud and passionate doctors, no patient will be left behind.
 
‘I call on everybody to be leaders in their rooms, in their communities, and share the word, whether it be to the government or to your patients, about the magic of general practice,’ she said.
 
‘We must ensure that high quality general practice and primary care is available to every person irrespective of their postcode, their income, or their life circumstances.’
 
Log in below to join the conversation.

general practice WONCA 2023 WONCA World Conference