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Globalizing Health Knowledge
Tell me, I forget.
Show me, I remember.
Involve me, I understand.
Chinese proverb
The everchanging essence of knowledge and the continuous seek for new discoveries have driven mankind to a tenacious dedication for unveiling the paths and boundaries of the human body. The extent of our knowledge about ourselves has increadibly reached the genetic book of life, allowing in a certain way to forecast the future. But is this immense knowledge leading us to higher levels of health literacy?
Nowadays, citizens are empowered through the fast access to information, and the gap between patients and health information has significantly been curtailed. Health related searches on the internet have increased over the past few years, and online communities of patients, that have physically never met, are flourishing at a fast pace. These current trends of the information and communication technologies are changing the lives of individuals and their families, and also the way that health systems are developing.
We see health consumers rapidly becoming key health players, taking increased responsability for their health status and data, and ultimately gaining critical knowledge about the quality the health care they receive. Patient-centeredness is a new order, and consequently the web 2.0 effect on the patient-doctor relationship is far for being totally understood.
For general practitioners and family physicians, who are at the forefront of health care systems around the world, this represents an exciting challenge. Moreover, this undoubtedly requires an upgrade of skills which entails joining the technological breakthrough and to face a new set of communication channels: instant messaging, electronic mail and virtual reality, just to name a few... Reassuring the important role of primary care providers in promoting health literacy is of crucial importance and can be achieved at a global scale, and not just simply in local settings.
Thirty years after the Declaration of Alma-Ata, primary health care needs once again gather forces in order to help decreasing inequalities around the world. The demands of health care systems require innovative solutions. As such, eHealth now represent the common voice for globalizing health literacy. The main goal for the Second Virtual Congress of General Practice and Family Medicine is to enable the use of eHealth, so as to empower citizens to use health information in an operational way – in other words, working globally for a wiser health.
Best regards,
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Alexandre Gouveia
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Dr. Alexandre Gouveia
Organizing Committee
Coordinator
Portugal
alexandre.gouveia@
virtualcongressgpfm.com
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Dear Colleagues,
After the great success of the First Congress, we have a second chance to build a bridge between all continents, to link ideas, thoughts and people.
The second virtual conference will begin in 21st September 2009, and for three months will be a unique opportunity to exchange experiences, using the Internet tool. In medicine as in any other area of human knowledge, the need for upgrading is imperative, given the amount of new discoveries, new procedures and new insights, almost daily.
The proposal for a virtual meeting is to expand the access to information, exchange of experiences, to meet new colleagues, without the necessity to be away from our families.
The word theme of the Second Congress "empowering health" refers to a change in the logic of health attention, today not only focused on promotion and prevention of diseases, but to spread the knowledge of health among populations, in order to increase its responsibility for their own health.
This is a fundamental role of family doctors. Not only anticipating problems, monitoring families throughout their lives, and to bring relief in pain, the construction of a human being more aware, more informed and with more general education, contributes to the formation of an individual with more decision-making power ... with more freedom.
In a virtual meeting, we do not have colors, religions, political divisions, or even countries. We are all together on the same planet, in search of a better quality of life for us, and for those who we care.
I wish success to all of us, and a great welcome to the second congress of virtual GP/FM.
A great 2009 to us all!!
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Carlos Daniel Moutinho Junior
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Dr. Daniel Moutinho
International Advisory
Board
Brazil
daniel.moutinho@
virtualcongressgpfm.com
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