About WONCA and WONCASAR

WONCA is an acronym comprising the first five initials of the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians. In short WONCA is nothing but the World Organization of Family Doctors.

The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) is a not-for- profit organization and was founded in 1972 by member organizations in 18 countries. WONCA now has 133 Member Organizations in 111 countries and territories with membership of about 500,000 family doctors and more than 90 per cent of the world’s population. This includes eight organizations in collaborative relations with WONCA.

WONCA represents and acts as an advocate for its constituent members at an international level where it interacts with world bodies such as the World Health Organization, with whom it has official relations as a non-governmental organization and is engaged in a number of collaborative projects.

WONCA South Asia Region (WONCA SAR) is a relatively recent addition to WONCA, established subsequent to the division of the previous WONCA Middle East and South Asia Region (MESAR)

Comprising member organizations from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, some countries within WONCA SAR boast more than one member. Bhutan, relatively a young country to the discipline of family medicine, is also a part of the region and holds its academic membership.