The Primary Health Care Corporation ( PHCC) celebrated Qatar Family Day, observed annually on April 15, by reminding the role and importance of the family, a statement said.
The celebration of this day is an emphasis on the importance of the family and its active role in the development process, the family cohesion, and the joint responsibility that all family members assume towards themselves and the society.
Dr Hamza Yousef, family medicine consultant at West Bay Health Centre, said: “Family medicine provides health care to all age groups in society, including infants, children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. Hence, its name has been associated with the family, being the provider of health care to all family members.
"A family doctor is one who specialises in general medicine so that he/she can provide a comprehensive medical service to all individuals, including all medical treatments provided to chronic disease cases and urgent cases, as well as some surgical interventions and mental illness, and the list goes on. A family doctor also plays a preventive and societal role shared with family members."
Dr Yousef added that among the advantages of this specialisation is the treatment continuation, as it allows patients to follow up with the same doctor constantly and over the years in various medical fields. A patient, for instance, who suffers from more than one health problem can follow up with one doctor in one place.
Indeed, a family doctor cannot treat all diseases, but rather, he/she will be aware of the diseases, will know how to treat them and how to direct the patient to other specialties.
Qatar is one of the pioneering countries in the field of family medicine represented by PHCC. It has established health and wellness centres and introduced developmental programmes, such as the Family Doctor Programme, where the patient chooses his doctor, books appointments, and follows up with him/her, the statement added.
Dr Hamza Yousef.
