HAMMAMET DECLARATION ON HEALTH IN THE POST – 2015 Agreed at the 63rd General Assembly March Meeting, Hammamet, Tunisia by the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA)
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have lead to vast improvements in the quality of life of millions of people worldwide since 2000. They have tackled some of the major development issues prevalent at the time of their writing. 14 years on from their agreement, the international community is in the middle of a long consultation process to write the Post – 2015 goals using sustainable development as the central theme. We believe that health should also be considered a central development issue for policy makers to address. Over the course of this General Assembly, the IFMSA has come together to learn more about the process that has been taken so far to discuss the Post – 2015 development agenda and our place, as an international youth organization, within it. 1.3 million medical students from 110 countries around the world agreed to: 1
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Advocate for working towards Universal Health Coverage as the specific health goal within the development agenda as it addresses the need to have health as a right for all
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Promote human rights and address the needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations as a central theme across all development goals proposed
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Stand as a youth organization in both a national and international capacity to address sexual and reproductive health and rights
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Call on governments to commit to finish the unfinished Millennium Development Goals, including setting new ambitious targets to get to the end of the AIDS epidemic
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Advocate to improve gender equality worldwide as a crucial component of improving global health as a whole
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Engage with our governments and alongside partner youth organizations to ensure that young people and youth organizations play an important part of the policy making process in the new development framework to promote youth advocacy and inclusive health policy
c/o WMA B.P, 63,01212 Ferney-Voltaire CDEX –FRANCE
Tel. +33 (450) 04 47 59
Fax. +33 (450) 40 59 37
www.ifmsa.org
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Call on policy makers to adapt to the changing burden of disease in their strategies by addressing non-communicable diseases and neglected tropical diseases
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Call on governments to ensure that the medical workforce is trained through transformative health care education to produce medical leaders to properly address health equity
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Advocate for health equity with a focus on the social determinants of health to ensure a coordinated approach is taken to improve the lives of populations across the world
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Explicitly highlight mental health as an important dimension of health and wellbeing
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Work with all stakeholders to ensure that health systems are equipped to deal with disaster risk management and conflict
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Encourage policy makers and stakeholders to reduce negative impacts of the environment on health and burden of disease
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Call upon policy makers to work together to have better strategies in dealing with issues regarding intellectual property rights and patents
There is endless potential for youth organizations to be one of the major bodies to help shape and mould the sustainable development goals. By committing to the above actions and by working together between our respective countries, we can attain the healthy future we want.
Adopted by the 63rd IFMSA General Assembly, March Meeting, Hammamet, Tunisia
c/o WMA B.P, 63,01212 Ferney-Voltaire CDEX –FRANCE
Tel. +33 (450) 04 47 59
Fax. +33 (450) 40 59 37
www.ifmsa.org
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