Pilar Astier-Peña, from Zaragoza, is the first Spanish president of the World Organization of Family Medicine.

A member of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (Semfyc) and a researcher at the IIS Aragón in the Aragonese Primary Care Research Group, she won the election in the runoff this Monday at the assembly held in Lisbon.

María Pilar Astier-Peña from Zaragoza, member of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (Semfyc), has been elected this Monday in the second round as the new president of the World Organization of Family Doctors (Wonca), a large entity that brings together more than five hundred doctors from 111 countries and 133 scientific societies and organizations of family medicine, both university and healthcare, and is the interlocutor of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) in relation to health policies that affect primary care.

Astier-Peña, who works at the Universitas health center in the Aragonese capital, was elected in the second round of the 25th World Assembly of Wonca. by majority over the other two candidates, family doctors Sri Ranjan (from Sri Lanka) and Mehmet Ungan (from Turkey), whom he faced in the second round of voting this Monday morning. His candidacy, submitted in July, has garnered the support of organizations and individuals such as the Medical College Organization (OMC), the Ministry of Health of Aragon, and Javier Padilla, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health.

The family doctor from Zaragoza will take effective possession of the office as president from 2027, replacing Viviana Martínez-Bianchi when her term ends.

Within Wonca, Astier has a long trajectory She served as Chair of the Working Group on Quality and Safety in Family Medicine from 2016 to 2021 and as a member of the European Working Group on Quality and Safety (EQUIP) since 2016. She was also elected as a General Member of the Wonca Executive Committee in November 2021. She also acts as the liaison between WONCA and the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, Pilar Astier accumulates More than 20 years of experience as a family doctor in rural and urban settings in Spaina, and combines his care work with the teaching, research, healthcare management and international leadership in quality and patient safety. She is currently the coordinator of the Semfyc Patient Safety Working Group. She also works treating patients at the Universitas health center, part of the Aragonese Health Service, in Zaragoza; she is an associate professor at the University of Zaragoza; she also tutors family doctors in MIR training and advises on healthcare quality and patient safety nationally and internationally.

María Pilar Astier-Peña's priority lines of action for her term include: Boosting primary care teams globally under the leadership of Family Medicine; integrate this specialty into undergraduate training; increase the visibility and influence of Family Medicine worldwide and defend the specialty as a cornerstone of universal health coverage and resilient health systems; promote a global culture of quality care and patient safety; strengthen collaboration with public health and community care; and strengthen Wonca as a global community with a shared mission.

Semfyc is the federation of the 17 Societies of Family and Community Medicine that exist in Spain. and brings together nearly 22.000 family doctors. The specialty of Family Medicine seeks to improve healthcare for users of the National Health System's public healthcare system through closer attention to individuals, their families, and their community.

Source: Heraldo de Aragón

Photography: Victor Serrano/Herald of Aragon