NE HEALTH BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, JAN 6
Providing comprehensive care for most specialties to patients of all age groups is the hallmark of family medicine. Family medicine practitioners or general practitioners (GPs) serve as an entry point for individualized healthcare for most health problems.
They enjoy a distinct status in many developed countries where patients can’t approach a specialist without the recommendation of a family physician. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India where a fast flourishing culture of corporate and multi-speciality hospitals is making Family Physicians irrelevant. The Coronavirus pandemic, however, steered a shift in this trend with the focus again zooming on family physicians for providing healthcare at the grassroots level, said organizers of Ahmedabad unit of the Federation of Family Physicians Association of India (FFPA) here on Friday.
- Ahmedabad Family Physicians Association is hosting the two-day National Conference of Family Physicians to find sure cure for this nagging issue
- Over 800 general practitioners will attend this brain-storming session which will see presentation of papers by 85 experts and panel discussions
- In many developed countries patients can’t approach a specialist without the recommendation of a family physician: AFPA-NATCON 2023 organising chairman Dr Abhay S Dixit
Ahmedabad Family Physicians Association is hosting the two-day National Conference of Family Physicians on Saturday and Sunday at Ahmedabad Management Association.
Giving details about the National Conference, Dr Pragnesh Vachchrajani, organising secretary, said “We know that Family Physicians are very important for the society. The Covid epidemic again proved that for primary care, the Family Physicians are important for the society. Every country needs robust primary care. The two-day National conference will reaffirm importance of Family Physicians in the society. ”
He said, “More than 800 delegates across India are participating in this two-day event, in which 85 plus faculties will share their knowledge. There will be Panel discussion-National Family Physician Dialogue, wherein experts from various fields like media, public, government, medical council and leading family physicians from across the country will participate in the discussions about various issues faced by them and find solutions for that.”
Dr Vachchrajani said, “There will discussions on the latest medical updates in the field of Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Cancer, Orthopedics etc in the National Conference, so that Primary care physicians will be updated with knowledge. We are also holding a Public Awareness programme on Saturday on Life style Disease prevention in association with the Ahmedabad Management Association.”
AFPA-NATCON 2023 organising chairman Dr Abhay S Dixit said, “Hypertension, obesity and diabetes are some of the major lifestyle diseases affecting the youngsters and all age groups owing to the adoption of fast foods, sedentary nature and also lack of sleep etc. By practising yoga, walking, food habits one can control this.”
To a query on bringing back the glory/ous days of Family Physicians, Dr Dixit advocated that “In many developed countries, it is required that every individual must have a GP and a patient can be admitted to the hospital only on advice of the GP. Studies have revealed that an effective primary care system — with the family physician as its backbone — can bring down health costs drastically. The answer to reinstate the vanishing family physician may lie in persuasion at different levels. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Federation of Family Physicians Association of India (FFPA) need to pursue the issue with the government in creating referral policies and family medicine specializations. More persuasion is required perhaps at the student level to revive the lost glory of the family physician.”
Another organising chairman Dr Kamlesh Naik said, “As of now AFPA has 4,000 members who are qualified MBBS. Post Covid, the common public have realised our importance. We will work in tandem with all stakeholders to lay strong healthcare foundation by making the role of family physicians and general practitioners mandatory.”
