As hosts of the WHCN 2012 Conference, the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN) has established a high-calibre international advisory committee to assist it in developing the 2012 program. The advisory committee was strategically selected to ensure the 2012 program reflects the true international scope, perspective and trend in health reform that WHCN aims for; in-line with its objective of linking health and social care stakeholders from across the globe for the benefit of the world population's health. The advisory committee consists of members from seven different countries, and provides views from both developed and developing country settings. AGPN, on behalf of WHCN, thanks the committee members for their time and expertise in contributing to the 2012 program. The 2012 advisory committee consists of:
Professor Jan De Maeseneer (Belgium)
Professor Jan De Maeseneer is the current Chair of the European Forum for Primary Care, the Secretary General of the Network: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH), Head of the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Ghent University, Belgium (a WHO Primary Health Care Collaborating Centre), and Promoter of the Primafamed Network for the optimisation of family medicine training in eastern and southern Africa.
A qualified General Practitioner, he has been working part-time as a family physician in a community health centre in the city of Ghent since 1978. Receiving his PhD in 1989, Jan has gone on to receive the "WONCA-award for excellence in health care: the Five-Star Doctor", and a "Doctor Honoris Causa" degree at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon in Cochabamba (Bolivia). He is the author of more than 120 scientific publications, eighty of which have been published in international journals with the peer review-system. From 2006 to 2008, Prof. De Maeseneer was a member of the Knowledge Network on "Health Systems" for the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, and is a member of the Scientific Committee for the Renewal of Primary Health Care at the WHO, Geneva.
Dr Brian Evoy (Canada)
Dr Brian Evoy leads the Divisions of Family Practice initiative in British Columbia Canada. He has more than 15 years’ experience in health care and health service delivery. A key area of specialty has been community, partner and physician engagement to build regional, local and provincial strategies and programs. Through well-designed consultation processes, Brian enables and facilitates partnerships with a range of organizations and objectives. Network theory, community development, collaboration and consensus building factor heavily in his approach.
Brian’s clinical experience as a social worker includes work with various community and youth services organisations in Vancouver and Ottawa. He holds a Bachelor and Masters in Social Work and a Doctor of Philosophy focused on ethical decision-making.
Dr Judith Smith (UK)
Dr Judith Smith is an experienced and widely published health services researcher and policy analyst. Before joining the Nuffield Trust in February 2009, she spent 14 years working at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham where she was Senior Lecturer and Director of Research, and Academic Director of the NHS Management Training Scheme. Prior to that, she spent eight years as a senior manager in the NHS.
At the Nuffield Trust, she leads a team whose research focuses on the development and effectiveness of commissioning in the NHS, the quest for better integrated care, the role and potential of physician organisations, and the search for health system efficiency in the economic downturn.
Ms Claire Hewat (Australia)
Ms Claire Hewat is the Chief Executive Officer of the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA). Previous to this, she was a DAA Board Director for 4 years. Claire has had many years of experience as a practising Dietitian in clinical, food service, community and public health nutrition, diabetes education and private practice and in various aspects of health service management mostly in rural areas. She is the Australian representative to the Asian Federation of Dietetic Associations, a member of the founding Board of the Commonwealth (Intl) Dietitian and Nutritionist Association, Chair of the National Primary Health Care Partnership and on the management group of Allied Health Professions Australia.
Dr Bob Phillips (US)
Dr Phillips is a family physician and Director of the Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care in Washington, DC. The Graham Center functions as a division of the American Academy of Family Physicians, with editorial independence, and is staffed by a small research team focused on providing evidence to help inform policy-making.
Bob has faculty appointments at Georgetown University, George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University. He recently served as Vice-Chair of the U.S. Council on Graduate Medical Education, and was appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to the Federal Negotiated Rule Making Committee on Health Workforce Shortage Redesignation. Dr Phillips was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2010.
Mr Bob Wells (Australia)
Robert Wells is the Director of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute (APHCRI) and co-Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy which is a joint initiative of The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Sydney. Mr Wells works across areas of health research and policy analysis, including several projects in the fields of primary health care and workforce policy.
Bob is a former First Assistant Secretary in the Australian Department of Health and Ageing where he was involved in research policy, Commonwealth/State relations, health workforce, rural health programs, safety and quality, and programs for better management of major diseases such as cancer, diabetes and mental health. He managed the Commonwealth's health workforce programs from early 1990s. He chaired the Medical Training Review Panel and represented the Commonwealth on the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee, the Australian Health Workforce Officials Committee and the Australian Medical Council. He has chaired several workforce committees established under the auspices of the Australian Health Ministers Council, including working parties on national medical registration and specialist medical training, and has represented Australia internationally on medical workforce matters.
Ms Laura Hawken (WHO WPRO)
Laura Hawken is Senior Technical Advisor at the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific Regional Office. Laura has broad experience in the health field over the past 35 years, in New Zealand, Cambodia, Albania, Nigeria and many other countries. Her career has extended from clinical work, to teaching, costing health services, project and services management, and health sector reform.
While with WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Laura was involved in research on the availability and knowledge of health services managers in a number of African countries. She was also instrumental in developing the WHO’s Framework for Strengthening Leadership and Management; as well as WHO’s website and free electronic library for Health Services Managers.
Since being with WHO in the Western Pacific Region in Manila, Laura has worked on a wide range of policy and planning guidelines and trainings, including the Regional Strategy for Health Systems based on the values of Primary Health Care.
Professor Philip Davies (Australia)
Philip Davies was appointed as Professor of Health Systems and Policy in the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland in 2009. Prior to taking up his current position he worked for 6½ years as a Deputy Secretary in the Australian (Federal) Government Department of Health and Ageing where he was responsible for several key areas of health policy and financing as well as corporate management of the Department.
Professor Davies has undertaken numerous consultancy assignments for AusAID and the World Health Organisation in areas such as human resources for health and development of national health plans.
In a health sector career spanning more than 30 years Professor Davies has also been a Deputy Director-General in the New Zealand Ministry of Health, a Senior Health Economist with the World Health Organization in Geneva and spent 14 years as a specialist health care management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in the UK and New Zealand. He became a Partner in the New Zealand firm in 1995.
Professor Davies holds a first-class honours degree in Mathematics, a masters in Management Science & Operational Research and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dr Emil Djakic (Australia)
Dr Djakic is current Chair of the Australian General Practice Network, and a general practitioner working in the north west region of Tasmania. A graduate of the University of Tasmania, Emil has shown his commitment to general practice over the past ten years, working as a full-time GP, practice principal and owner. At the state level, he has served on the Board of the Tasmian General Practice Divisions for three years and was the Board representative on the Information Technology/Information Management Systems Sub-Committee.
Dr Bev O'Keefe (New Zealand)
Dr Bev O'Keefe was a partner in a three-doctor urban general practice in Rotorua from 1980 until 2009. This was interspersed with a year in general practice in rural British Columbia, Canada in 1987-88.
During her time in Rotorua she was very active in local general practice organisational activity and was chair of the Rotorua General Practice Group IPA from 2001 to 2004. She was responsible for founding multidisciplinary general practice clinics within local secondary schools, some of the first such clinics in New Zealand.
Following three years as deputy chair of the IPA Council of NZ (IPAC), she became Chair of IPAC in 2006 and since February 2009 has held the position of Executive Chair, based in Wellington. She has continued in that role since IPAC rebranded in February 2010 to become General Practice NZ.
Between 2006 and 2009 she was also Chair of the NZ General Practice Leaders Forum.