The PRIMAFAMED (Primary Care / Family Medicine) network was established in 2008 with support from the Flemish Inter-university Council (VLIRUOS). Prof Jan De Maeseneer from Ghent University was particularly instrumental in supporting the development of the network. PRIMAFAMED developed out of a series of networking and collaborative activities, initially in South Africa and later spreading into Southern, East and West Africa. The development of PRIMAFAMED and Wonca Africa was integrally linked during this period.  The history of PRIMAFAMED is summarized as:

  • 1995-2003: Family Medicine Education Consortium (FaMEC) in South Africa enabled collaboration between the eight departments of Family Medicine and Primary Care.
  • 2004-2009: Expansion of network to Southern, East and West Africa. Launch of PRIMAFAMED network (annual meetings) and of African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine in 2008 (Kampala) with European Edulink support (2008-2010).
  • 2009-2019: A twinning project (supported by VLIRUOS) enabled consolidation of the network to Sub-Saharan Africa with additional support from EuropeAid (via Stellenbosch University) for annual meetings. In addition, the European Union supported the Human Resources for African Primary Care (HURAPRIM) collaborative EU-FP7 research project.

Read more in “History and milestones” and “Twenty years of Primafamed Network in Africa: Looking back at the future

Look at a video on the history: PRIMAFAMED- Building primary health care in sub-Saharan Africa, a community talk by VLIR-UOS – Community Talks | PRIMAFAMED – Building Primary Health Care in Sub-Saharan Africa (2003-2023) – YouTube