Unique New Book Profiles 65 Caring Physicians of the World, World Medical Association

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 07 Nov 2005 - 18:00 PDT

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A unique new book profiling 65 physicians from 55 countries has been published by the World Medical Association. The physicians were nominated by their national medical associations as examples of the profession's values, demonstrating the highest standards of medical care, medical ethics, and medical science.

Dr Yank Coble, President of the WMA, launched the book at the WMA's annual Assembly last month in Santiago, Chile. He said:

'All these physicians are heroes, many are unsung heroes, and all exemplify, despite their enormously disparate environments and circumstances, the three enduring traditions of the medical profession - caring, ethics and science.

'The remarkable stories in this publication are not just about doctors. They are about patients. They illustrate the patient-doctor relationship at its best, a relationship that is at the heart of everything we do as physicians. This is a book about physicians as strong, effective advocates for patients. I believe these profiles will help restore pride, passion, enthusiasm and optimism among physicians the world over.

'Throughout the world, physicians are under increasing pressure and struggle to deliver health care of the highest quality in the most efficient manner possible. Health care systems are constantly being reformed and the patient-doctor relationship is more and more under threat. Yet the traditions of medicine are what enable physicians to work together under difficult conditions. The stories in this book demonstrate just that.'

The book, which contains high quality photographs of the 65 physicians with their patients, is being distributed to national medical associations, Government leaders and health ministers, and health related organizations around the world.

Among the physicians profiled in the book are: - Christina Pourgourides, as one of Britain's few consultant psychiatrists, her refugee work has become her passion;

- Edward Annis, regarded as one of the giants of American medicine and the medical profession's best known spokesman in the USA;

- Mamphela Ramphele, who was imprisoned for her anti-apartheid political activities, and went on to become the first black woman Vice Chancellor at a South African University and then a managing director of the World Bank;

- John Awoonor-Williams from Ghana, who works in one of the remotest areas of the world as the only doctor serving a vast area;

- Nanshan Zhong, China's top expert on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, who played such a vital role in the SARS epidemic in 2002;

- Valentin Pokrovsky, the Soviet Union's leading expert on AIDS and the first person in Russia to describe HIV-infection and AIDS;

- Sister Lucia Yu, from Korea, who has spent more than 20 years in Kenya, dealing with cases of malaria and tuberculosis;

- François Xavier Emmanuelli, of France, a co-founder of Medicins sans Frontieres;

- Yasuhiko Morioka , the Japanese surgeon who was selected to undertake an operation on the late Emperor of Japan;

- Jacinto Convit, from Venezuela, who helped to eliminate leprosy as one the world's most terrible diseases;

- Michael J. VanRooyen, one of the USA's leading experts on humanitarian medicine;

- Jack Armstrong, from Canada, dedicated to helping to overcome the adversities faced by the country's Aboriginals';

- May Cohen, a passionate and tireless advocate for Canadian women's health;

- Peter Mugyenyi, from Uganda, one of Africa's leading experts on AIDS, who has devoted his life to the care, treatment, research and prevention of the disease;

- Sofia Ionescu, from Romania, one of the first female neurosurgeons in the world;

- Hira Dongol, who has worked in the rural and mountainous areas of Nepal for most of her 40 years as an obstetrician and gynaecologist, one of only 200 in the country;

- Leena Pasanen, a Finnish doctor, who for the past 25 years has worked as a missionary doctor and paediatrician in Tanzania;

- Censu Tabone, who rose to become Malta's President for five years;

- Andre Wynen, the Belgium physician who was credited with saving the WMA from potential disintegration in the 1970s and 1980s.

Note: The book has been published with the support of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative (http://www.positiveprofiles.com)

Nigel Duncan
WMA Public Relations Consultant
nduncan@ndcommunications.co.uk
WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCAITION