CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES AGAINST FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF FAMILY MEDICINE: HOW TO TACKLE?

During recent years and since AlmAta declaration numerous endeavours were taken in many nations to implement family medicine, however, such did not reach the expected goals and few of the others who began it are still struggling with the rigorous shortage of qualified family doctors. Realizing that family medicine should be the predicate of any health accommodation substratum and that 50% of working physicians must be constituted from family physicians, we can visually perceive why the health of the nation in numerous developing countries are in danger and not reaching to the standard level. Such countries are suffering not only from re-emergence of communicable diseases but the complications of non-communicable illnesses as well. The quandary of family doctors’ shortages has many reasons of which the most critical is a failure of policy-makers to be fully convinced of the considerable benefit of such discipline, and that family medicine can enhance the wellbeing status of the entire population. Cuba, in spite of its limited resources, has managed to implement family medicine at a full-fledged scale, and every individual is enrolled with his/her physician. It is not the money that plays against family medicine implementation but it is the well and determination. Numerous specialists have indicated that more health equity and cost-effectiveness in addition to the advancement of the people’s health are achieved when family medicine implemented. In this presentation, we highlight these issues and suggest alternative solutions.