Family Medicine Conference

Role of Family Medicine Practitioner Highlighted With Need for More Spending on Health Care

Delegates from medical institutions of Pakistan, Lebanon, Tanzania, Kenya, UK, Ireland, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, highlighted issues and made recommendations for ease of high-quality health care access to a burgeoning population of the developing countries, at the three-day International Conference on Family Medicine at Aga Khan University (AKU) that concluded on February 23, 2003.

Participants of the Family Medicine Conference.

The conference was organised by the Department of Family Medicine at AKU in collaboration with World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), RCGP, UK, and the College of Family Medicine, Pakistan, to celebrate the successful 10 years of completion of the four-year training programme in Family Medicine.

Chief Guest, Prof. Sultan M. Farooqui, member of AKU Board of Trustees and President, College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSP) Pakistan, highlighted the many health care problems afflicting the developing world, especially Pakistan. He said Pakistan, with a 2.8 per cent growth rate ranked sixth amongst countries faced with the problem of tuberculosis. Quoting from a WHO finding, he pointed out that public health care network consisted of only 262 tuberculosis centres, out of which many ceased to function.

Prof. Farooqui added that 80 per cent of the diseases reported to doctors were preventable in nature. "These diseases are either totally preventable or such that their course can be altered if properly dealt with at the first level of care by a trained family physician," he assured.

Visitors gathered at the different stalls set up by pharmaceutical companies during the three-day Family Medicine conference.

Dr. Michael Boland of WONCA, said the practice of Family Medicine is required most in countries where it is weak, or non-existent, and called for international expert committees on major non-communicable diseases. He said there was demand both in the developing and developed countries for more investment in the health sector but less than needed was being spent. "This trend needs to be reversed, and this aim can be achieved if we attach due importance to the discipline of Family Medicine." He added that 90 per cent of spending linked to HIV/AIDS was done in developed countries, even though 90 per cent of the affected people belonged to the developing countries. 

Dr Garth Manning, Medical Director, International Development Programmes, discussed the partnership between AKU and RCGP, UK, spread over 10 years. He suggested that a family practice care orientation of a country's health care system is associated with lower costs, higher satisfaction of the population with its health care services, better health levels and lower medication use.

Dr. Samad Shera, Honorary President of International Diabetes Federation and Director WHO Collaborating Center for Diabetes, gave an overview of diabetes mellitus in Pakistan, warning that, with already 170 million diabetic people worldwide, the number could rise to 300 million by 2025, and that more than two-third of diabetic would be from developing countries. He said that action taken early in the course of diabetes is more beneficial and cost-effective, especially if such action can prevent admission to hospital.

Dr. David Taylor, Vice Provost of AKU, stressed the essential role of a university in promoting the education and training of Family Medicine as an important speciality that plays a central role in the health care system of a country.

"There is world-wide recognition that trained family physicians combine knowledge and skills from various medical specialities with a holistic approach to offer accessible, high-quality and cost-effective care to individuals, family and community," said Dr. Riaz Qureshi, Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. He said the challenges ahead were, amongst others, unsubstantial budget of less than one per cent of the GNP for the health sector in Pakistan, and lack of enough structured training programmes in Family Medicine.  He said that for this reason AKU started its four-year structured training programme in Family Medicine, which later gained recognition for MRCGP, UK.

He recommended increased Family Medicine programmes in government and non-government medical institutions, ongoing trainer workshops, and making Family Medicine an integral part of the country's health care system.