Medical Students Tackle Inequalities In Healthcare

Posted on July 18, 2007
Filed Under Health Care Policy and the Student Doctor, Medical Students

Access to Essential Medicines to dominate International Student Assembly

By SDN Staff, in collaboration with IFMSA

Almost one thousand of medical students from over 90 different countries will gather in Canterbury this August to address critical inequities in healthcare provision across the globe. The 56th August Meeting of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations will return to the UK with the theme “Access to Essential Medicines”.

The International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFSMA) is the largest student body in the world and the official voice of medical students across the globe. Its biannual General Assemblies aim to educate and inspire its members to take action on Global Health issues through a combination of projects, training and campaigns. The UK team beat off fierce international competition for the opportunity to host the 2007 Assembly, which will be held August 4-10 at the University of Kent, Canterbury.

The decision to theme the event as “Access to Essential Medicines” was taken in recognition of its relevance to both the developing and developed worlds. More than 10 million deaths per year can be attributed to lack of access to life-giving medications, in direct contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, entitling every citizen the right to “health and well-being of himself and his family, including … medical care and necessary social services”. However, as pharmaceutical companies and health services defend their own rights and obligations, the issue has gained both increasing notoriety and key relevance to all those intent on practising within the medical community.

Professor Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, who will give the opening address to the Assembly, has said of the issue: “Access to medicines has become the test above all others by which the rich world will be judged in its dealings with the poor” (Lancet 2002 vol 359:1605).

On Wednesday 8th August, the Assembly will host “Access Denied: the Big Debate” in which Jon Sowero (Univerisities Allied to Essential Medicines), Tom Ellman (Medecins Sans Frontieres), Catherine Royce (Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative) and Richard Barker (Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry) will be expressing their views on the role of “Big Pharma” in securing Access to Essential Medicines, and defending them both to one another and the student audience.

Other speakers throughout the week will include Hans Hogerzeil (Director of Department of Medicines Policy and Standards), Michael Wilks (Chairman of United Body of the British Medical Association) and Richard Smith (CEO of United Health Europe and former Editor of the British Medical Journal).

Informal seminars will encourage students to explore, among other things, the mechanics of Public-Private partnerships, the flooding of the third world with counterfeit medications and access denied to minority groups in the “developed” world, such as asylum seekers and the elderly.

The Assembly also aims to motivate and train its delegates to take positive action on Global Health issues themselves through a wide variety of campaigns and community-based projects. An extensive Training and Resource Development component has been integrated in the program, providing the participants with new skills needed in their work, but seldom found in the traditional University curricula. Such skills include Project Management, Media Skills, Strategic Planning, and Campaigning.

The UK was one of the 6 member nations involved in founding the IFMSA in 1952 and its UK member, Medsin, remains highly active with branch in over 28 medical schools. It has not, however, hosted an Assembly since 1964 and it was therefore with huge excitement the UK team secured the bid in August of last year. The team set out with the aim of hosting an ethical, environmentally sustainable and accessible Assembly in the UK. Fundraising has been exclusively from companies compatible with Medsin’s ethical policy, rejecting sponsorship from tobacco, pharmaceutical and private health insurance firms.

Procurement of all resources has been organized, along with the Assembly gathering itself, to minimize adverse impact on the environment.

Recent efforts have been aimed at increasing access to the Assembly to students across the globe. An international publicity campaign was launched at Christmas and, in coordination with embassies abroad, since then has secured visas for delegates. In addition to the traditional travel bursaries, a new scheme of sponsorship by UK medical schools of foreign students, has further widened access to students from economically developing countries.

More information can be found at www.ukam2007.org and www.ifmsa.org

To discuss this article visit the discussion thread located here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=5387965#post5387965

Comments

One Response to “Medical Students Tackle Inequalities In Healthcare”

  1. Dr. Greenstick on July 18th, 2007 2:23 pm

    It is really nice that there are organizations dedicated to helping international health problems in developing countries. It would be good to know the specifics of these programs. There seems to be little if any funding for U.S. medical students to do longterm international health projects abroad, as the U.S. government would not pay for physicians educated in the U.S. to leave the U.S. and care for people in developing countries, no matter how noble the cause.

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