New vision for primary health care and sustainable development

Understanding family medicine's numerous challenges in the post-COVID era is essential, especially the growing shortage of family doctors and healthcare staff across Europe and the globe. This aligns with the theme of the 2025 biennial conference of the World Organization of Family Doctors in Lisbon. The pandemic underscored the importance of robust family medicine and high-quality primary care access within the community to alleviate hospital overload and respond swiftly to surging patient numbers. Family medicine also played a crucial role in the mass vaccination campaigns. However, this success came with challenges, such as increased workload, burnout, and, in some cases, severe illness or even death from COVID-19 due to inadequate personal protection in the early days before vaccines were available. Additionally, family medicine transformed with the rapid adoption of telemedicine in both synchronous (phone or video) and asynchronous (various forms of messaging) formats.