Landmark partnership announced for international medical conference in 2020
In 2017, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) won its bid to host the 2020 WONCA Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Auckland, 23 – 26 April.
The College is joined by two other significant New Zealand medical, nursing and allied health professional membership organisations to host WONCA 2020, which is expected to attract approximately 1,500 local and international health professionals.
Co-hosted by the College, the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network (the Network), and Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa – Māori Medical Practitioners Association (Te ORA), this conference is the first of its kind in New Zealand.
“Our organisations’ members make huge contributions to our health care sector, and this is a fantastic chance to share our successes and learnings with peers from across Aotearoa, and our overseas guests,” says Te ORA Chairperson, Dr David Tīpene-Leach.
Each organisation is bringing its own unique angle to the event, with the Network contributing rural perspectives to the scientific programme, and Te ORA managing the conference’s equity stream.
“This is a compelling opportunity for rural health professionals to attend or present at a diverse and lively international conference, right on their doorstep,” says Network Chairperson, Dr Fiona Bolden.
“The conference team is taking great care to retain the individual identities of each of our organisations while also creating an event showcasing collaboration, that people are excited to attend,” says College President, Dr Samantha Murton.
The overall conference theme is: ‘Family Medicine, leading the way towards an advanced world of equity, quality and compassion.’ Delegates can find more information and register online.
The following people are available for interviews:
Dr Samantha Murton Dr Fiona Bolden Dr David Tīpene-Leach
President, RNZCGP Chairperson, NZRGPN Chairperson, Te ORA
Media: 021 027 81909 022 085 0437 027 477 3483
About WONCA
The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1972 by member organisations in 18 countries. WONCA now has 118 Member Organisations in 131 countries and territories, with about 500,000 family doctor members.
WONCA has seven regions across the globe, with the Asia Pacific region being one of the largest. This region’s member organisations are from Australia, China (mainland), Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.