Scoph manual 2014 by marwa daly

SCOPH Manual 2014

The international Federation of Medical Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association( IFMSA) is non-profit, non governmental and non partisan organization representing association of medical students internationally. IFMSA was

Imprint

found in 1951and currently maintains 117 national member organizations from more than 100 countries across six continents with over 1.3 million students represented worldwide. IFMSA is recognized as non

Editor in Chief Marwa Daly (Tunisia)

governmental organization within the United Nationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Layout/Design

system and the world health organization. For more

Dhouha Bouslah (Tunisia)

than 60 years, IFMSA has existed to bring together

Contacts

the global medical student community at the local,

da.scoph.pub@gmail.com

national and international levels on social and health issues

Copiright2014

Table of Contents

Editorial Message from the SCOPH Director What's SCOPH SCOPH International Dream Team SCOPH Structure What's Public Health SCOPH External Partners Major public health issues Tips and Tricks All New SCOPH Agenda SCOPH in the regions

Editorial

Dear SCOPHeroes, I feel honored and delighted for writing this editorial. SCOPH Manual, this project that I have been working on for months, has finally come out to the light.

Marwa Daly Development Assistant on Publications and Marketing of SCOPH email: da.scoph.pub@gmail.com

The content of this Manual is based on the answers we have got from the survey that has been sent out at the beginning of the term in addition to the previous editions. I wish that it answers your questions regarding public health in general and Standing Committee on Public Health specifically. Last edition goes back to 4 years ago. Thanks to the contributors, we came up with an updated version. I would love to thank you all for taking part of this interesting journey: The dream team and the Authors that wrote for the Manual.None of this would happen without your priceless help. This guide isn’t intended to be a definitive textbook on SCOPH. There are a lot of resources for that. But, I hope it’ll help you learn more about the basics. The articles shared here will assist you if you are establishing SCOPH in your Local Committee, to get familiarized more with the Standing Committee’s focus days, projects, sessions at Regional meetings and different conferences.

Major public health issues Tips and Tricks All New

da.scoph.pub@gmail.com I believe that every project, no matter how much efforts have been made, isn’t flawless. That’s why, distinguished SCOPHians, I’m counting on you to provide us with your feedback in order to improve this publication and made it more relevant to your Local committee needs. So, please send me an email to da.scoph.pub@gmail.com Thank you all for being part of this amazing committee. Have a good reading Orange Hugs,

marwa daly

SCOPH Agenda SCOPH in the regions

development assistant on publications and marketing of scoph for the term 2013-2014

Editorial

Message from the SCOPH Director

Dear SCOPHians,

Petar Velikov SCOPH Director email: scophd@ifmsa.org

Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all Medical Students and their Communities. This means providing you and your family with protection from the health threats such as vector-borne diseases, natural and man-made disasters, toxic exposures, and preventable injury. Public Health also works to prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes and their risk factors: poor nutrition, inadequate physical activity, alcohol abuse, and tobacco use . The SCOPH Manual in line with our activities is as diverse as the communities we serve. Here, you will find information and links for nearly every health concern. Included are the most popular health topics, current health issues, and a taste of the Orange Spirit. Your Standing Committee On Public Health is committed to being a helpful resource to every individual working in Public and/or Global Health.. We aim to present the public with the information and resources necessary to pursuing and achieving healthy lives. With warmest regards, Petar Velikov SCOPH director for the term 2013-2014

All New SCOPH Agenda SCOPH in the regions

What's SCOPH History

Back in 1952, medical students of the International Federation of Medical Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Associations (IFMSA) formed the Standing Committee on Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Health (SCOSH), driven by a strong will to take an active part in preventing and making policies concerning health problems. During the following years, the wide variety of activities led to the change of the name to the Standing Committee on Health (SCOH) in 1963. Afterwards in 1983 the name of the committee changed once more to the name we use to this day, the Standing Committee on Public Health (SCOPH). Since these six decades have past, SCOPH members are implementing, maintaining and improving a wide variety of community- based projects on a local, national, regional and international level. Through these activities we reach our united vision for a healthier society and further development

Vision

our own potential to become competent and talented health professionals.

Mission

The Standing Committee on Public Health works towards ensuring a healthy global society that is empowered through its knowledge,

In order to work towards our vision, we promote community based outreach

skills and opportunities to live a life of

activities at

complete physical, mental and social well-being.â&#x20AC;?

a local level, which are inspired by the best practice within our federation and through the development of our own skills and potentials, as medical students and future health professionals, we voice our actions together through the powers of advocacy. Below represents the core purpose and values of SCOPH. - Disease prevention within our society - Health promotion and education within our society - Raising awareness about Global Public Health issues within medical students and our society - Advocating for health policies as the voice of worldwide medical students - Developing skills and knowledge of medical students as the future health professionals - Working as an international team and collaborating with external public health organizations to use the potential of over one million worldwide medical students

SCOPH International Dream Team

Ivana Mrรกzkovรก RA for Europe

Wonyun Lee RA for Asia Pacific

SCOPH International Dream Team IFMSA Director on Public Health (SCOPH Director) is elected each year by the National Member Organisations at the IFMSA General Assembly in August. She/he coordinates the work that is done by National Officers, project co-ordinators and other SCOPHians. The SCOPH Director is responsible for the SCOME meetings at the biennial IFMSA General Assemblies.scophd@ifmsa.org Liaison Officer for Public Health issues (LPH) represents IFMSA and SCOPH towards international associations in the field of Public Health education (e.g. World Heart Federation (WHF), the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (NCDA), the Alcohol Policy Youth Network (APYN) to name a few.The SCOPH-D and LPH work closely together during the year and at the GAs. lph@ifmsa.org National Officer on Public Health (NPO): The majority of National Member Organization of IFMSA elects a NPO . Her/his task is to coordinate and encourage local or national activities in the respective country. The NPOs are also responsible for communicating with and reporting to the SCOPH Director. NPOs are recommended to attend the international IFMSA meetings in March and August. At these meetings they network with other NPOs, exchange ideas and attain new knowledge and motivation to bring back home to the Local and National Committees. Local Officers on Public Health (LPO) are in charge of local improvement in Public Health and related activities at the different local medical faculties of a National Member Organisation. They are elected locally and are responsible for tackling local problems. They are advised to form local working groups, whose work they co-ordinate. The LPOs communicate with and report to the NPO. National and Local Project Officers are the coordinators of the work of their respective NMOs and unite all Standing Committee Officers. In some NMOs where the Standing Committee Structure is not used, the National/Local Project Officer is responsible for communicating with the International Standing Committees of interest. International Assistants are appointed by the Public Health Director. Currently we have 3 types of Assistants: the 5 Regional Assistants, the 2 Development Assistants and the General Assistant. The main tasks of the Regional Assistants are to keep in touch with the national SCOPH-groups in their region, provide SCOPH-members of the region with personal and professional support, encourage and assist the development of SCOPH in the region, establish priorities and work on the development of a regional plan of action. The Development and General Assistant tackle current general topics such as Publications, Trainings or basically support the work of the Regional Assistants and SCOPHians Worldwide. To keep contact, there is the FB-group (IFMSA-SCOPH), the yahoo-email-group (to subscribe, just send a blank email to ifmsa-scophsubscribe@yahoogroups.com) and the SCOPH Blog at our official website (ifmsa.org): http://www.ifmsa.org/Activities/Standing-Committees/Public-health.

SCOPH Structure

Externals

Team of Oﬃcials

Liaison Oﬃcier to public Health DAs SCOPH Director

Regional Assistants

NPOs

LPOs

NPOs Assistant

PUBLIC HEALTH DAVID IMBAGO JÁCOME

–

IFMSA EQUADOR

Dear SCOPHeroes! The aim of this article is for you to know the most important topics about our Standing Committee, so you can have the knowledge and theoretical basis to help us develop SCOPH by creating better projects, initiatives, sessions or anything you would like to. First, what is Public Health? The World Health Organization deﬁnes Public health as “all organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole”, this means that public health is not for just one patient or disease, but to all population and many health problems.

David Imbago Jacome IFMSA EQUADOR email: mdij793@gmail.com

Public Health started since humans realized that there are things that affected their health, and by eliminating them they could live more comfortable. After this, people decided that these rules should be followed by everyone in order to keep the health of their community; and that is how Public Health was born. The three main public health functions are: • The assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and populations at risk to identify health problems and priorities. • The formulation of public policies designed to solve identified local and national health problems and priorities. • To assure that all populations have access to appropriate and costeffective care, including health promotion and disease prevention services. But what are the main issues Public Health works on? Some notable public health campaigns are: • • • • • • • •

Vaccination and control of infectious diseases Motor-vehicle safety Safer workplaces Safer and healthier foods Safe drinking water Healthier mothers and babies and access to family planning Decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke Recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard.

Lately Global Health has really catch our eyes, but as SCOPHeroes we should know the diﬀerence between this topic and Public Health.

10 Global health

Public health

Geographical reach

Focuses on issues that directly or indirectly aﬀect health but that can transcend national boundaries

Focuses on issues that aﬀect the health of the population of a particular community or country

Level of cooperation

Development and implementation of solutions often requires global cooperation

Development and implementation of solutions does not usually require global cooperation

Individuals or populations

Embraces both prevention in populations and clinical care of individuals

Mainly focused on prevention programmes for populations

Access to health

Health equity among nations and for all people is a major objective

Health equity within a nation or community is a major objective

Range of disciplines

Highly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary within and beyond health sciences

Encourages multidisciplinary approaches, particularly within health sciences and with social sciences

Taken from: The Lancet 2009 “Towards a common deﬁnition of global health”, Kaplan et al. Some of us Important External Partners for IFMSA SCOPH include • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA): www.wfpha.org Global Health Council (GHC): www.globalhealth.org European Public Health Association (EUPHA) http://www.eupha.org/ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) http://www.unicef.org/ Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA) http://www.globalgapa.org/ Child Family Health International (CFHI) http://www.cfhi.org/ Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) http://www.mwia.net/ International Diabetes Federation (IDF) http://www.idf.org/ World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) http://www.wfmh.org/ UK Public Health Association (UKPHA) http://www.ukpha.uk.org/ International Union against Cancer (UICC) http://www.uicc.org/ World Heart Federation (WHF) http://www.worldheartfederation.org/ Concern Worldwide http://www.concernusa.org/ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) http://www.lshtm.ac.uk./ Framework Convention Alliance www.fctc.org Save the Children http://www.savethechildren.org/ Eurocare – European Alcohol Policy Alliance http://www.eurocare.org/ International Association of Health Policy (IAHP) http://www.healthp.org/

So ﬁnally, what can we do as medical students? Well luckily for us, our amazing Standing Committee and the IFMSA gives us the chance to work on most of the topics Public Health involves, ﬁrst you need to identify health issues in your community, town, city, wherever you want to work on, then get involved! Work as hard as possible to create a healthier world and learn as much as you can to become the best future medical doctors our world has seen.

SCOPH External Partners The Body of the IFMSA Liaison Officers forms a bridge between the Federation and other organizations. They are here to secure sustainability by providing IFMSA with relevant information and opportunities about partner organizations and by facilitating and Altagracia Mares De Leon initiating contacts. liasing to Public Health email: lph@ifmsa.org

The Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues (LPH), is the official who is in charge of bridging the federation with public health organizations (NGOs and also Governmental Organizations), her/his role is to support NMOs by getting materials and speakers; providing opportunities for public health training through IFMSA meetings in partnership with other organizations; and fundraising for activities and meetings. The LPH provides information about external public health meetings, conferences and trainings that may be relevant for IFMSA members and inform our partners about the activities of our Federation. Here you can find some important External Partners that IFMSA has been working with during the last years. Of course there are more external partners and newly established contacts that we are working on. For any questions, comments or requests, please don’t hesitate to contact the IFMSA Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues lph@ifmsa.org

External Public Health Partners World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) What is the WFPHA? The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) is an international, nongovernmental, multi-professional and civil society organization bringing together public health professionals interested and active in safeguarding and promoting the public’s health through professional exchange, collaboration, and action. Founded in 1967, it is the only worldwide professional society representing and serving the broad area of public health, as distinct from single disciplines or occupations. The Federations‟ members are national and regional public health associations, as well as regional associations of schools of public health presently numbering more than 70. WFPHA strives to promote effective public health policies and practices throughout the world every day. The WFPHA GA takes place every year in Geneva, just before the World Health Assembly. The Federation organizes the triennial World Congress on Public Health - WCPH. The International Students’ Meeting on Public Health – ISMOPH is a satellite event to the WCPH and IFMSA is the leading NGO supporter for this meeting.

members are national and regional public health associations, as well as regional associations of schools of public health presently numbering more than 70. WFPHA strives to promote effective public health policies and practices throughout the world every day. The WFPHA GA takes place every year in Geneva, just before the World Health Assembly. The Federation organizes the triennial World Congress on Public Health - WCPH. The International Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Meeting on Public Health â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ISMOPH is a satellite event to the WCPH and IFMSA is the leading NGO supporter for this meeting.

Their next meeting will be in 2015

Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA) What is GAPA? The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance, founded in 2000, is a developing network of NGOs and people working in public health agencies, which share information on alcohol issues and advocate evidence-based alcohol policies. Resource centers affiliated to GAPA are already operating in the EU, USA, South America, India, South East Asia and Western Pacific regions. The GAPA mission is to reduce alcoholrelated harm worldwide by promoting science-based policies independent of commercial interests.

Alcohol Policy Youth Network (APYN) What is the APYN? The Alcohol Policy Youth Network is a network of National Youth Councils, National Youth Clubs and Transnational Organizations, that ask for high youth participation in the definition, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs tackling the harmful use of alcohol. Since 2011 the APYN is an established NGO based in Slovenia and Lithuania.

European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) What is Eurocare? Eurocare was formed in 1990, as an alliance of voluntary NGOs representing a diversity of views and cultural attitudes concerned with the impact of the European Union on Alcohol Policy in Member States. It now includes some 50 organizations across 20 countries in Europe, most of which are national or supranational umbrella organizations. Member organizations are involved in research and advocacy; education and training of voluntary and professional community care workers; the provision of counseling services and residential support for problem drinkers, of workplace and school based programs as well as the provision of information to the public.

European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF) What is the EAHF? The European Alcohol and Health Forum is a platform where bodies active at the European level can debate, compare approaches and act to tackle alcohol related harm. The overall objective of the Forum is to provide a common platform for all interested stakeholders at EU level that pledge to step up actions relevant to reducing alcohol-related harm.

World Heart Federation (WHF) What is the WHF? The World Heart Federation (WHF) was originally formed in 1978 (first name International Society and Federation of Cardiology - ISFC). WHF is now recognized by the WHO as its leading NGO partner in cardiovascular disease prevention and is a close partner of the WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x;s department of Non-communicable Diseases. th Important campaigns of the WHF are the World Heart Day, September 27 , Children and youth projects for the promotion of healthy nutrition, physical exercise and the prevention of tobacco use, the Go Red for Women campaign and Demonstration projects.

14 International Diabetes Federation (IDF) What is the IDF? The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is a worldwide alliance of over 200 diabetes associations in more than 160 countries, who have come together to enhance the lives of people with diabetes everywhere. For over 50 years, IDF has been at the vanguard of global diabetes advocacy. The Federation is committed to raising global awareness of diabetes, promoting appropriate diabetes care and prevention, and encouraging activities towards finding a cure for the different types of diabetes. It is the mission of IDF to promote diabetes care, prevention and a cure worldwide. th The World Diabetes Day â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November 14 was introduced in 1991 by IDF and WHO in response to the alarming rise in diabetes around the world. IFMSA participates actively in the Campaign since November 2007.

More information about IDF and the World Diabetes Day: www.idf.org and www.worlddiabetesday.org

World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) What is the WFMH? The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is an international organization founded in 1948 to advance the prevention of mental and emotional disorders, the proper treatment and care of those with such disorders, and the promotion of mental health. The Federation, through its members in more than 100 countries has responded to international mental health crises through its role as the only worldwide grassroots advocacy and public education organization in the field. Its organizational and individual membership includes mental health workers of all disciplines, consumers of mental health services, family members, and concerned citizens. The organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broad and diverse membership makes possible collaboration among governments and non-governmental organizations to advance the cause of mental health services, research, and policy advocacy worldwide. th The World Mental Health Day, October 10 , is one of the major activities of the Federation. IFMSA participates in the campaign through the IFMSA Mental Health Initiative Project.

More information about WFMH: www.wfmh.org

Non-communicable Diseases Alliance (NCDA) What is the NCDA? The NCDA is an alliance of four NGOs – the International Union against Cancer (UICC), the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the World Heart Federation (WHF) and the International Union against Lung Disease and Tuberculosis (The Union), and it was created in May 2009. The NCDA is representing the four main NCDs outlined in the World Health Organization‟s 2008-2013 Action Plan for NCDs – Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs), Cancer, Chronic Respiratory Diseases and Diabetes and the four shared risk factors, namely tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets. The NCDA works so that NCDs are recognized as a major cause of poverty, a barrier to economic development and a global emergency, and especially towards the United Nations High-level Summit on NCDs (September 2011, New York).

International Union against Cancer (UICC) What is the UICC? The International Union against Cancer (UICC) is the leading international NGO dedicated exclusively to the global control of cancer. UICC‟s vision is a dynamic global community of connected cancer control organizations, professionals and volunteers working together to eliminate cancer as a major life-threatening disease for future generations. UICC Mission is to connect, mobilize and support cancer organizations and individuals with knowledge and skills to be effective. Being the oldest NGO dedicated to cancer, UICC has formed a series of platforms and initiatives for the fight of all aspects of cancer, such as Globalink, is one of the biggest international networks about Tobacco Control.

Thisispublichealth.org What is the thisispublichealth.org? They want to promote the idea of what public health is. Therefore they print stickers and send it to everybody who would like to have some! So you can just send them an email with your address and tell them you want them for hundreds of medical students.

16 European Public Health Organization What is the European public health? EUPHA in short, is an umbrella organisation for public health associations and institutes in Europe. EUPHA was founded in 1992 by 15 members (12 countries). EUPHA now has 71 members from 40 countries. EUPHA is an international, multidisciplinary, scientific organisation, bringing together around 14â&#x20AC;&#x2122;000 public health experts for professional exchange and collaboration throughout Europe. EUPHA-IFMSA partnership is the most recent IFMSA public health partnership, established in july 2013. http://www.eupha.org/index.php

IOGT What is IOGT? IOGT International is a worldwide community of non-governmental organisations. The aim of IOGT International is the liberation of peoples of the world leading to a richer, freer and more rewarding life. As a means of attaining this aim, IOGT International promotes a lifestyle free of alcohol and other drugs. They offer material that adresses issues relating to alcohol and other drugs on topics ranging from HIV and poverty to gender and violence.

Major Public Health Issues

Wake-up Call Hani Hafez Lebanese Medical Students' International Committee (LeMSIC) hani.hafez@live.com "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." True wise words from the one and only Bob in his song Redemption released in the 80s. Perhaps he really knew how much our state of mind can leave a significant trace on our overall health and well-being. Now what is mental health? and why is it pivotal for us to tackle that matter with a full drive? The WHO defines Mental health as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. As for the why factor, the anwser is pretty simple; Mental Health systems are arguably at their worst nowadays, failing to meet the medical health care needs sufficiently. If my own meandering experience and a statement from an 80s Weed loving Reggea did not meet the trick, check out these staggering numbers. According to the WHO report on March 2012 for the 66th World Health Assembly, 86% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. More than half of the people who kill themselves are aged between 15 and 44. The highest suicide rates are found among men in Eastern European countries. Mental disorders are one of the most prominent and treatable causes of suicide. Not only this,but In low and middle-income countries, between 76% and 85% of people with severe conditions receive no treatment; for high-income countries, that range is reduced to a still dramatic 35% to 50%, with the global annual spending on mental health less than $2 per person. About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14. Similar types of disorders are being reported across cultures. Mental diseases are among the leading causes of worldwide disability in young people. Yet, regions of the world with the highest percentage of population under the age of 19 have the poorest level of mental health resources. Most lowand middle-income countries have only one child psychiatrist for every 1 to 4 million people. Now keep those numbers in mind when i ask you this: How many among you know at least one friend, relative or acquaintance with a mental problem, as common as stress, anxiety, or depression.I see some nodding heads here. I'm not going to sit here and list the global projects and movements that are ongoing to tackle the situation, because they are, and obviously it's not enough. So the question is simple : what can we, as medical students , and as SCOPHians do about it. Personally, I had the privilege and the chance to work in a National Mental Health Awareness Campaign in Lebanon, organized by the EMBRACE organization and run by the SCOPH team of our NMO LeMSIC. entitled " break the chain", we shed the light on the fact Mental Health Is a medical disease with a proper, diagnosis, treatment, and is subject of a clinical regular procedure, and not a Taboo. People are reluctant to acknowledge they suffer from mental problems, so what we did was initiate this campaign in all Universities that make part of the NMO, sharing our thoughts with College students, spreading surveys with a self analysis test, where people get to find out if they suffer or may be holding risk factors for anxiety, stress, etc. At first look this may not seem sufficient to discard all the worries, and it certainly did not offer a radical solution, but it was a start. Effective, straightforward, and Fast.

19 Dear SCOPHians, if i could offer you one tip for the future, this would be it. Induce a change. Discuss mental health issues with your friends, your colleagues, your family, do your own research in your NMO and find out the Mental Health System status there, and if it needs some adjustments or input. After all isn't it our sole purpose as Members of the medical society, and more particularly as SCOPHians? To offer whatever we can in addressing all issues related to Public Health, Global Health promotion, including anwsering a Mental Health wakeup call.

Hani Hafez Lebanese Medical Students' International Committee (LeMSIC)

Conquer Diabetes-Pan India Diabetes Awareness Initiative MSAI-India SCOPH TEAM

Dr.Sunil Kumar MSA-India doctor_sunilarora@hotmail.com

As we all know that ' Health is wealth' , the various issues of unhealthy living leads to multiple life threatening diseases and one of the most important and probably the fastest growing life style disease in todays world is diabetes. Diabetes has emerged as a major healthcare problem in India Nationwide Diabetes Control and Awareness Programme MSAI-SCOPH (Medical Students Association of India)was celebrated on 14th-17th november 2013 on occasion of the World Diabetes Day 14 November 2013 as an Awareness Generation Day amongst all level of society stressing on individual at higher risk and building block of Future India to Present Day India which includes students of senior secondary level. people residing in rural area having minimum exposure to modern day medical techniques and health care facilities. Our team initiated nation wide awareness programme a total of 7 events were created in different cities across the country.Events were tailored to target the present needs of the society following are the various activites pefromed in different events 1.skit by participants creating awareness about the management of blood sugar level and complications of diabetes. 2.Dramatic presentation of symptoms of diabetes to make it simpler and easy to understand. 3.Elocution competition and Rangoli competition on diabetes complications was conducted. 4.Diet control ,nutrition values of different products,importance of healthy life style and exercise were explained by means power point presentation. 5.In secondary schools quiz contest and competition were conducted in which the question were drafted from topics including diabetes symptoms ,complication ,role of yoga and other exercises in health. 6.Poster presentation and animated videos were exhibited and were appreciated by school children. 6.People from different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds were screened for Blood Sugar Level ,people with exsisting disease were advised to undergo regular check up maintain low glycemic index. 7.Pamplets and hand out about Diabetes were distributed. 8.Contribution of fatty diet ,obesity and other provocating factors of diabetes was explained to school children and were advised to adopt diet according to charts and table prepared by nutrition and diet experts according to their daily requirements energy .

21 9.Diabtic patients were educated how to cope with the complication and disease ilself,how not to let the disease affect the quality of life on a person. 10.Individual with suspecion of Complication of diabetes like retinopathy,gangernes were advised to visit physician for consultation. 11.Interaction with Experts in the field and discussion over myths about diabetes were the most active sessions of events. 12.Certifictes and Gifts were awarded to most active students to promote active participation in upcoming activies . 13.Questionaaire used in event will be analysed to generate level of awareness about the disease and effetive methodology will be tailored to make further strategy to deal with the devil of society. MSAI-SCOPH Intends to carry out psychological analysis and counselling of patients suffering from diabetes in order to improve quality of life and educate them methodes to cope with day to day stress and pain of being diseased.We,believe feeling of being ill increases the sorrow of person and hampers with routine life that in long term is an obstacle to development. With the dream of a Healthy World and Free of disease MSA-India waves good bye to participants and guest the events with the promise that that it is just the beggining our fight against the disease.

Dr.Sunil Kumar National Officer Of Public Health MSA-India Contacts-noph@msai-india.org, doctor_sunilarora@hotmail.com +91-8295557414

NCDs Ivana Mrázková NPO at IFMSA Czech Republic noph@ifmsa.cz

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), literally mean diseases one cannot catch from another person. It´s quite difference comparing to infectious diseases which used to be big threat of our health for many centuries. As alternative for NCDs we also use the name chronic diseases which simply refer to their longer duration (at least more than 3 months). To simplify this wide group of illnesses the World Health Organization (WHO) defines NCDs as these four: diabetes, heart disease, cancers and chronic lung diseases. They are responsible for 63% of all deaths worldwide (36 million out 57 million global deaths). To be complex we should also think about mental health (by many called as an all-to-often forgotten NCD. This group share four main risk factors. Exposure to tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity. Eliminating these major risks we can prevent most NCDs (at around three-quarters of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes and 40% of cancer). NCDs are global health issue, affecting women and men almost equally. More than 50% of them occurred before the age of 70. 80% of NCDs deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. They´re becoming more than just health problem but a development one too. There´s strong association with socioeconomic deprivation and poverty. It´s a bit vicious circle because NCDs are both cause and result of this distress. Since 2013 group of highly motivated people is fighting for a world free from preventable NCDs. This global social movement is called NCDFREE. Also we, as future healthcare professionals, are facing this global challenge. We should use our knowledge and power to change thinking of our societies and make them healthier and happier. We should initiate refocusing our health care systems- invest more into prevention to decrease costs of treatment. We should try new approaches, ally with other experts and advocate for better world. Ivana Mrázková NPO at IFMSA Czech Republic

23 Tomasz Trojanowski Eating Disorders Awareness" Transnational Project Coordinator t.trojanowski@yahoo.com

Do you know which of the mental illnesses has the highest mortality rate? If your answer is eating disorders, then you are right. Due to systemic disorders and high suicide rate among the affected, around 20% of people suffering from anorexia will die prematurely from complications related to the illness. There is much to be done. Because of the low awareness of the nature of the problem, only 10% of the affected get professional help. With aggressive campaigning of the modeling industry the future in that matter might look grim. As medical students we have to do something! Eating Disorders Awareness is an Official IFMSA Transnational Project that tackles the problem. Thought we may not be able to cure the ill, by peer education lessons we can show our peers in schools that the problem is real and there is a way out. By workshops, we can show our fellow students that we will meet patient with ED during our future work. By campaigning, we can work with the society to raise the general public awareness. There are so many ways to tackle the problem and the sky is the limit! Join us and let’s together face the issue!

Kamila Malewska Transnational Coordinator of "Build up Your Bones kmalewska@gmail.com Build Up your bones

Osteoporosis significantly lowers the quality of life. Patients suffering from this disease complain of various pain symptoms and also of significantly reduced mobility, difficulties in their everyday life and increase dependence on family. This is a serious problem – the disease imperceptibly destroys bones of more than 100 million people around the world. That is why IFMSA decided to take up the “Build up Your Bones” project. In the whole world 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men are at risk of bone fracture caused by osteoporosis. The dark side of this disease is 1,6 mln ilium fractures, 1,7 mln radius and ulna fractures and 1,4 mln destroyed vertebrae around the world. Due to above, osteoporosis prevention and treatment has become one of major issues of contemporary medicine. So far we have opened two departments – in Poland and Turkey. “Build up Your Bones” is dynamically developing project – more and more costumes of project mascot Bony, more events during which we treat people with cod-liver oil and project mascot encourages children to take care of bones. Sometimes people refuse to undergo examination with FRAX calculator, but we are bravely dealing with this problem. We hope that the project will grow and more departments will open bringing help to those in need.

TEDDY BEAR HOSPITAL FEAR NO BEAR

Ranj Mohammed Najim Position: NPO at IFMSA-KURDISTAN Ranj_najm@yahoo.com npo.kurdistan@gmail.com +9647705077142

-What is teddy bear hospital? TBH is an international health project, whose aim is to reduce childhood anxiety about medical environments, procedures and professionals. Which will take away child's fear and also it's a good opportunity for medical student to work with children. it is worth focusing on because It will reduce childhood anxiety and fear about hospital ,clinician ,ambulanceâ&#x20AC;Śetc. So when the child admitted to any medical facility ,he or she will become easy to handle and will help the doctors to do their best for the child. Also it's a good opportunity for medical student to work with children and establishing a good report and communication skills between children and medical students despite of providing fun-filled,enjoyable and amazing time for both. Fortunately our NMO[IFMSA-Kurdistan] was able to do many great and successful projects in the last couple of years including TBHs.Since 2010 [our NMO establishment] till now we did up to fifteen TBHs in different cities and kindergartens,and more than 600 children got benefit from the project. It's a clear thing that there are so many obstacles coming on to your way during managing any project so sometimes we faced problems in managing TBHs such as fundraising problem and difficulty in choosing members with a good mood or very patient and lovely by children so it needs more time for managing the project but fortunately we could get over those obstacles. What I expect in the future is more depending on managing the project and product, for next step after meeting with the teddy bear doctors, if they have been bring to a pediatrician or seen them ambulance and real x ray room. Also at product, before that they do a research on that project, example test emotionally and physically of the children before and after teddy bear hospital and facing them with reality and seen if the project give his favor or not, and at which percent. Also become a program for every kindergarten , to give benefit to every child.

Tips and Tricks

How to establish SCOPH in your NMO Now you have come to one of the most exciting experiences in your work and that is establishing your own SCOPH! Once your NMO is recognized by IFMSA, you can start your own SCOPH group. Below are some simple steps towards starting a SCOPH in your NMO: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Appoint a NPO and LPO Make a plan of action Inform your NMO, your faculty, and university about your new group and your plans Recruit members Complete the structure of your group Start projects Submit projects reports Helen Hanna Connect with the international SCOPH family NPO of IFMSA Iraq

Appoint a NPO and LPO

email: scoph.iraq@gmail.com

The LPO is the Local Public Health Officer, and is the person responsible for coordinating SCOPH activities within their local committee (ie. their medical school). The NPO is the National Public Health Officer. This person is responsible for coordinating the activities of all SCOPHs within the NMO (i.e.; all the medical schools represented by their association). These people are integral to the development of SCOPH; they are in charge of running SCOPH within the NMO. They are the heads of the committee and provide leadership and support for the members. They guide the committee to come up with project ideas, and facilitate the planning and execution of these projects. In essence they are the backbone of SCOPH. The persons chosen for these positions should be good leaders, hardworking, good planners and organizers, accessible, approachable, reliable, and responsible.

Responsibilities of the LPO are (but are not limited to) :    

general management of the SCOPH group including membership recruitment Coordinating local projects Reporting to and keeping in contact with the NPO Keeping himself/ herself updated with international SCOPH activities

Responsibilities of the NPO are (but are not limited to) : Keeping contact with the LPOs and organizing regular reports Coordinating National projects Encourage sharing of information between local SCOPHs Assessing the country’s health situation and coming up with project ideas to target these issues  Liaising with externals so as to garner support for the SCOPH  Giving regular reports and keeping contact with the SCOPH Regional Assistant    

Plan of Action Before beginning your term, it is important to first come up with your plan of action for the year. What is your vision for SCOPH and its impact in your community? How will you achieve this? It is important to be realistic. Activities chosen will be dependent on your resources: financial, personnel, and time. They should be well laid out to present to your SCOPH members and others. You should decide what public health issues you would like to tackle and come up with ideas on how to do this. It is also helpful to come up with a draft timeline for your activities. Having a good and clear plan of action will help to recruit members and also to get current members motivated.

Make your presence known

It is important to ensure that the student body, your faculty, and your University know about SCOPH, what your group has done in the past, and what your plans are for the year when seeking support from them. It is also good to get in contact with key externals who may be integral to the running of some projects, for example your ministry of health, NGOs, and other service groups.

Recruit Members

Your members are the body of SCOPH and probably the most important persons! They are your idea makers, driving spirit and work force. They are the ones who help plan projects and actually carry them out. It is therefore very important to have a good number of active members. To recruit members, they have to be interested in the group! For SCOPH this is easy because it is the best way to implement the knowledge we have gained during our years of study on the ground of reality in addition to expanding our experience! We are about health and our target group is medical students! But even with this advantage, membership recruitment still requires some work on the part of the officers. Presenting your plans for the year is a useful tool in membership recruitment. People will be drawn to your activities and want to get involved. Other means of recruiting members is through introducing your group at your local and national meetings, announcements in universities and don’t forget to use promotional materials to reach as many students as possible, e.g; flyers, posters, stickers, newspapers, TV channels… etc. Facebook has become a powerful tool to easily access hundreds but thousands of students so make use of it! Once your activities have started, this will also help to attract more people to your group, so it is important to promote your activities well.

Complete the structure of your team:

Once you have a big SCOPH group, you may consider assigning responsibilities to certain qualified members to help organize work and make it easier to get things done in the right way and time. It is important to be familiar with the members’ skills and potentials so as to put the right person in the right place. You may consider the following positions: -

NPO assistant: he/ she is the right arm of the NPO, also, takes the responsibility in case of absence of the NPO Training assistants: In charge of all the trainings taking place within SCOPH: location, time, trainers and trainees Publication assistants: in charge of publications (Facebook page, blogs, etc.), archiving pictures and sharing your national/local events Fundraising assistants: an important point to consider when planning for projects is to have sufficient budget to cover your expenses. Having a team specialized with grants and proposals writing will be of great help

Start Projects!

Once you have a workforce then it’s time to start work! Please bear in mind that your workforce could in the beginning consist solely of you and a few friends, but even with small numbers, it is possible to achieve much. It is important to ensure that projects are well planned and well executed. It is also important to report every project and send it to the NPO or to the regional assistant.

Submit Project Reports:

Report all your projects! Local reports should be sent to your NPO, while national reports should be sent to your regional assistant and to the general secretary of your association to archive them. Reports are a great way for you to keep track of your progress as a group and to assess the effectiveness of your work. Reports can be used to keep your faculty, University, and external supporters up-to-date on all your activities. It is also important to share your activities with other SCOPHs to learn from each other

We hope you have a joyful experience establishing your SCOPH!

How to write a policy statement

What is a policy statement?

Claudel P-Desrosiers Think Global Coordinator 2013-2014 thinkglobal@ifmsa.org

A policy statement outlines an organisations approach to a specific issue that is related to the work of that organisation. In addition a policy statement makes recommendations for how the organisation will proceed relative to the issue. It is an essential tool to advocate, to make your voice heard and to speak up for what your organisation believes in.

Why would you need a policy statement? Policy statements allows an organisation to assert its belief and values regarding issues that are important for its work. They are a great tool to advocate on a global platform, with external partners and institutions being aware of the organisation’s point of view. They are also useful to promote objectifs and perspectives in regard to certain issues at meetings and conferences, like the World Health Assembly for instance. The policy statements endorsed by IFMSA can also be used on the national and local levels to support the National Members Organisations work in improving health. Furthermore, creating and writing policy statements gives members the opportunity to have a say in what issues their organisation work in. Plus, it fosters debate and allows members to become better informed advocates. Let’s take a concrete SCOPHian example. In your country, you may witness the harmful effects of tobacco use. As future health professionals, you are concerned for your patients health and you wish to see your a national law that increases the taxes on tobacco products. On your own, your government might not easily listen to you. However, together with medical students from your organisation, you can write a policy statement that is voted upon during a national general assembly. By doing so, you are unifying the voices of thousands medical students across the country. Your policy statement asking for a better tobacco reglementation has just became so much more powerful!

What is the policy writing process? 1. Collect information The more information you have about the subject, the better it is. Look at the issue asking yourself how it involves the organisation and what impacts it may have. 2. Set goals What do you want to achieve? What is your key message? 3. Define the key stakeholders Who has interests in the issue you want to take a stand on? Who might be a potential threat? Medical students? Patients? Governments? Non-governmental Organisations? 4. Think about the policy outcomes What are the different solutions to the issue? Can you evaluate these? 5. Reach a conclusion Think about concrete recommendations to the issue and provide the reasoning for them. 6. Draft a paper This can take a while, but if you have successfully achieve all the previous tasks, it shouldn’t be that hard. Remember that the policy statement must be easy to understand, even for people that aren’t experts on the issue. 7. Adopt the policy statement Present the policy statement at a general assembly and have the organisation members to vote on it. 8. Implement the policy statement Nominate someone - it could be a national officer or an executive board member - to ensure that the policy statement recommendations will be followed and implemented. Also, this is the part where you reach out to the different stakeholders and make your voice heard. You can send letters, arrange private meetings with stakeholders, lobby, etc.

30 What does a policy statement include? There are four main sections: summary, introduction, main text and references. ● Summary This is a brief synopsis of the issue and the policy statement. You usually write it when your introduction and main text are almost finished. It shouldn’t be more than one-sixth of your policy paper (half a page is your policy statement is three pages). ● Introduction You describe the problem to be addressed, recall past actions your organisation has taken, and explain the purpose of the statement (the “Why”). For example: We believe that [...] and we reaffirm our stance on [...]. ● Main text This contains the operative clauses, that “what your organisation stands for”. State the action to be taken by each identified stakeholder. Use the present tense verb and use a stronger language. For example: We call upon our government to [...] and we urge medical students to [...]. ● References All information that you put in a policy statement needs to be referenced, as it will show its credibility. Information must be from trusted sources and easily traced and verified.

Always remember that a good policy statement stands on those four principles: clarify, credibility, correctness and conciseness. Bank of words to use Introduction

Main text

Affirming, Alarmed by, Approving, Aware of, Believing, Bearing in mind, Confident, Convinced, Declaring, Desiring, Deploring, Contemplating, Emphasising, Fulfilling, Guided by, Noting, Realising, Having adopted, Observing, Realising, Recalling, Reaffirming, Welcoming, Having considered.

Accepts, Affirms, Approves, Authorises, Calls for, Calls upon, Confirms, Considers, Declares, Deplores, Designates, Emphasises, Encourages, Endorses, Notes, Proclaims, Urges, Expresses its hope, Reaffirms, Reminds, Regrets, Requests, Resolve, Recommends, Supports, Trusts, Strongly condemns

ALL NEW

SCOPH Publications

Letter to LPOs

MSI

SCOPH Manual SCOPH Projects' Booklet

SCOPH Newsletter/ E-SCOPHians

IFMSA Newsletter

NEW CAMPAIGN IDEAS

Innovation is fundamental when deciding how to take into action your projects. You want to make sure you reach as many people as possible, but you also want to cause an impact so that your message is well received and understood. If you are going to work so hard in a campaign, why not making it worth it by channeling all your good intentions towards a campaign that can meet the goals of public health while being fun, creative and attractive? -

Partner up! Don’t ride solo, NGOs and health related institutions are a great opportunity to work with enthusiasts like us. Besides, it’s a great opportunity to network for future activities. Benefits for you could range from getting free campaign T-shirts to donations of gluco-tests, banners or even logistics costs. Just ask! Get the media! If you think your campaign is good, then it’s good enough for local newspapers, radio stations and even TV. While it gives you a chance to spread your idea through a massive channel, your campaign will look more serious and professional. Hit the streets! This is a great way to bring fun back. Have some members dress up with something symbolic related to the campaign (for diabetes or world health days, they could be junk food) and make them wander around a street, plaza or mall. They could run after each other, simulate a fight, put up a short show, etc. You can then adapt the rest of your campaign from this core. Flashmob! It just never gets old. It’s perfect to address any topic, and you can always find really good examples on the internet. It’s also a great way to interact and get to know your local committee members since rehearsals and dancing really take us out of our books and challenge our physique and fun spirit.

Juan René Delgado Cornejo Former Smile X Coordinator email: juanre.delgadocornejo@ gmail.com

JUAN RENÉ DELGADO APEMH – PERU

Photo: Diabetes on the ground, being bullied by pizza, alcohol, greasy food and sedentarism in a plaza in Arequipa, Perú. World Diabetes Day 2012.

SCOPH Agenda

World Health Days January Arthritis Awareness Week - 3-7 Jan World Leprosy Day - 30 January February February 4 – World Cancer Day February 11 – World Day of the Sick Eating Disorders Week - 5-14 Feb OCD Week - 20-26th Feb 2012 February 28 - Rare Disease Day March March 3 – International Day for Ear and Hearing 3rd Friday of March – World Sleep Day - 15 March March 20 – International Day of Happiness March 20 or 21 – Earth Day March 21 – World Down Syndrome Day March 24 – World Tuberculosis Day Purple Day for Epilepsy - 26 March Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day - 31 March April Spondylitis Awareness Month - April April 2 – World Autism Awareness Day April 7 – World Health Day April 17 – World Hemophilia Day April 25 – World Malaria Day April 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work, May World AS (Ankylosing Spondylitis) Awareness Day - First Saturday after 1 May May 8 – World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day May 17 – World AIDS Vaccine Day May 31 – World No-Tobacco Day 1st Tuesday of May – World Asthma Day June June 5 – World Environment Day June 8 – World Brain Tumor Day June 14 – World Blood Donor Day June 19 – World Sickle Cell Day July Disability (ADA) Awareness Day - 26 Jul July 28 – World Hepatitis Day August August 7 - Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia (PVNH for short) 1–7 August World Breastfeeding Week National Honey Bee Day - 3rd Saturday of August September September 8 – World Physical Therapy Day 2nd Saturday of September – World First Aid Day September 10 – World Suicide Prevention Day September 21 – World Alzheimer's Day September 22 – (World) Car Free Day(s) September 28 – World Rabies Day Last Saturday in September, September 29 – World Heart Day

SCOPH in the regions

Africa

Mohamed Taber SCOPH Regional Assistant for Africa ra.scoph.africa@gmail.com

My dearest SCOPHeroes, It has always been such an honor to be part of the dream team for the term 2013/2014 and this occasion in particular where we present you the fourth edition of SCOPH manual 2014 is a moment of success. Our manual has been taken under huge focus by our lovely development assistant on publications and media to meet your needs and interest. As usual, the SCOPH manual tackles each pillar of our very own orange committee. Major topics, projects, activities and interesting articles have been embedded to remain relevant for you. It has been created to be your reference for information all about SCOPH, so bring you Nescafe and stay tuned to learn more about SCOPH. Since we believe that the SCOPH manual can play vital roles in guiding SCOPHians around the globe, I hope you find it useful and frequently refer to it as you are running your group or even your own project in your respective NMO. Enjoy your time exploring your standing committee and whenever you need a hand just hit on our contacts and we will be glad to assist you at any time.

All the best, Mohamed Taber SCOPH Regional Assistant for Arica

Africa Regional Meeting

Hello orange family, In this article I’m writing you my words expressing my unique experience in facilitating SCOPH sessions during the last African Regional Meeting which took a place between 19th and 23th of December in the beautiful Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For those who don’t know me yet, my name Mohamed Taber the current SCOPH regional assistant for Africa. For me, this ARM was a time to burn the passion and bring the action as I was extremely excited to meet my teammates in the region, our officials and of course my beloved SCOPHians. I came in to Addis bearing in mind hopes, challenges and so many untapped potentials. It was three days occupied by continuous joyful and unforgettable times. The first day, we had a broad insight for the SCOPH we want analyzing our focal points in addition to inputs for SCOPH reform process to get on the right track. Honestly, I was surprised since I didn’t expect that much inputs. It was epic, each time we had a small working group they cam up with new ideas and showing more compassion to the orange committee. A case study example took place in three parallel small working groups handling three different topics like mental health, tobacco use and non-communicable diseases to be discussed in more details and presented by the next day. The second day, we brought a new topic “global surgery” in a joint session with SCOPE/SCORE by our LO to WHO Gugu Wanjau. The feedback was very constructive and participants were even positive to acknowledge more. Besides, we had a session on MDGs and post 2015 and the favorite part when we held a debate splitting up the participants in two groups’ debating “with” verses “against” the millennium development goals. That part was a big clue for a brighter future seeing them grapping the chance to show their skills not merely on debating and negotiation but also excellence in team work environment. The last day started with a consultation for IFMSA strategic plan inputs in small working groups, productive training session on project management and lastly a panel discussion on SCOPH-Africa calendar to be set as a template for future mutual plans and projects. Games and energizers were way beyond fun and crazy. We had some participants singing national songs for punishments and eventually recorded almost every single moment with endless number of photos and videos. Yes you can name it; we made it from A to Z adding fun to actions. It was a pleasure to have our general assistant Ms BeMSA president Manon Pigeolet working day by day with me, the support from the dream team and not to forget my fellow attendees for reflecting deep enthusiasm towards SCOPH and Africa the thing that pushes me to work even harder for the rest of the term. My words would never express how glad and proud I am today to belong to a federation which can simply alter your dreams for a better and a healthier community!

All the best,

YAT Youth Against Tobacco MedSIN-Sudan In the 21st Century 1, 000, 000, 000 people [WHO] will die because of tobacco, 10% of them because of secondhand smoke. This is the population of China, India, the whole Africa and more than the United States and European Union (EU) put together! YAT stands for Youth Against Tobacco project which is basically aims to increase the awareness about the risks of tobacco use in the community and mainly youth; and by so doing decrease the tobacco related diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses through grapping the attention of the general public, educate our society, strengthen the image of being a non-smoker and advocate for adequate health care policies against tobacco use. We have different kinds of activities in MedSIN-Sudan to achieve these goals. Attached you can see some photos for activities done under this project. The core of our project is Advocacy & Peer Education and the idea is to train medical students to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to make interventions at high schools and universities and furthermore, to train other medical students who are the next generation of doctors. One step is the national youth assembly we held supported by our federal ministry of health. Collect signatures in order to hand them over to your Ministry of Health; signatures from medical students, by the general public â&#x20AC;&#x201C; simply as many as you can, or a symbolic number

41 Problem statement: Cigarettes, Snuff, Sheesha, and all other kinds of tobacco are creating an increase risk on the community and the individual’s weather active or passive smokers that is by increasing the incidence of heart, vascular, lung diseases and others beside the socioeconomic impact.

Monitoring and evaluation: • • • • •

Pre/Post testing of the selected group. By questionnaire. Continuous assessment can be set in place for the groups visited by the team. Recording and reports to be done following every activity to ensure a flow of continued communication as well as regular assessments to the work allowing adjustments to be made accordingly. Monthly meeting for team leaders to discuss work and rearrangement of the scheduling if needed. Monthly reports will be given to any partner including the financial report.

Indicators • • • • • •

Change in knowledge (in percentage) calculated from pre and post activities Number of public lectures conducted. Number of target group selected. Number of meetings held. Number of reports delivered. Numbers of participants attend.

Americas

Arthur Mello SCOPH Regional Assistant for America ra.scoph.pamsa@gmail.com

Hello dear SCOPHians!

Welcome to a new edition of our amazing SCOPH Manual! Always thinking in Public Health as a human right we’re going to focus with this manual on the development of SCOPH activities that are effective in the guarantee of health promotion and prevention of diseases in our nations, and also stimulating our SCOPHians to have a critical mind about the reality of Public Health in their different countries and how we as medical students can change that. SCOPH has grown a lot in recent years and we’re going to get bigger and bigger until we reach the stars, but while that doesn’t happen let’s work! Let’s make the change we want to see in the world, let’s think global and act local through SCOPH awesome activities! Let’s rock!

Arthur Mello

PAMSA Regional Meeting

With an energized newcomers session our participants were introduced to the wonderful world of SCOPH, getting to know each other and discussing what is Public Health for them. For our the second session on Public Health Advocacy they we’re ready to analyze their countries challenges and started to work in Small Working Groups on how Medical Students could work to change this reality. Our second day started with a Waking Up session about NCDs, where we could be aware about the important effect that the control of risk factors for these kind of diseases has in the global burden of diseases nowadays and we worked thinking on SCOPH projects that could raise awareness about this situation in our countries. Then we could not forget the importance of the IFMSA backbone, right? So, we had an incredible Project Management Training made by our Projects DA Fabiola, who spent some time teaching us all the steps to develop an amazing SCOPH project. Even with the NFDP in the previous night the SCOPH energy was really strong for the third day of sessions, the morning was dedicated to work on Global Health, where our SCOPHians learned about concepts of Public, International and Global Health and discussed on how the Post-2015 Development Agenda should be, finally solidifying their capacity as Global Health Leaders of our future. By afternoon SCORP and SCOPH combined their strengths for a joint session about Disaster Management made by Dr. Carlos Garzon from PAHO´s Department on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief. Finally, we began with Policy Making Training by Rael Garcia Policy and Advocacy DA, followed by an innovative joint session with SCOPE about Global Surgery Then, with the help of our President Josko we were separated in groups to work with “The IFMSA We Want” proposal, discussing together with the SCOPH Reform theme how we want IFMSA and our beloved SC should be in the next years. We also had amazing outcomes that will surely be important to the future of our federation. At last, we finished our RM with presentations of awesome projects from IFMSA-Brazil, IFMSAQuebec, IFMSA-Ecuador and ACOME-Colombia in our SCOPH Project Presentation session.

THE IFMSA YOUTH EMPOWERMENT-PAHO Meeting

The IFMSA, as a NGO recognized within the World Health Organization (WHO) system counts on spots reserved for delegates with leadership roles attending the several directive council meetings of WHO Regions. On 2013, from September 30th to October 4th, I was selected together with 4 more medical students from Mexico, the USA and Canada to represent the IFMSA in the Pan American Health Organization 52nd Directive Council meeting. The impact of the meeting on the vision of health as a global issue on our medical education is immeasurable: it allows us to recognize the cooperation of the Member States on evaluating the region’s progress on and the challenges to achieving Millennium Development Goals related directly to health, besides seeking for partnerships between the PAHO and the PAMSA region and proposing statements on health related goals of the IFMSA as a strategy of encouraging the Member States to promote youth empowerment and participation on the decision making bodies under the philosophy of empowering the youth as a smart investment on the future. Several innovating initiatives like ‘Art for Research’ were available for presentation, proving that interdisciplinary work makes science understandable for all. These are just a few examples of why the time invested on the IFMSA either at a local or global level is a plus on the education of future physicians. In my case, my life project has been redirected: now I see not only myself but also many of the friends I have met as the future decision making bodies of the wonderful place we inhabit: The World.

Whitney Stefanny Cordoba Grueso Regional Assistant for SCOPE in The Americas for the 2013-2014 term.

Asia PaciďŹ c

Shela Sundawa SCOPH Regional Assistant for Asia PAcific ra.scoph.asiapacific@gmail.com

Dear my fellow public health champions, It is with my greatest honor to present you our 2014 SCOPH Manual. In this section, you will learn many things related to public health in Asia Pacific from various exciting activities in NMOs until world public health event happened in our region. This manual was the result of your hard work which will be delivered to you as an inspiration and a reminder. Working in public health may sometimes feel exhausting, but each time you read the manual, I hope you will remember how public health has changed our world and also became inspired to continue the fight for making a better world for us to live. With warmest hugs, dr. Shela Sundawa

Meeting reﬂections for Scoph

66TH Session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia Region International Conference on Public Health Priorities in the 21st Century: The Endgame for Tobacco Nilofer Khan Habibulah, AMSA-USA Nilofer.habibullah@gmail.com

66TH Session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia Region 11-13 September 2013, New Delhi, India

The 66th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South East Asia (SEARO), was held at New Delhi, India, 11-13 September 2013, with the 11 participating SEARO countries- Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste. I was proud to represent IFMSA and presented an intervention on Universal Health Coverage. The WHO Director-General, Dr, Margaret Chan, in her inaugural address urged member states to end absolute poverty in context of sustainable development by 2030, and universal access to health care- spurred by reduction of inequalities and health inequities. The SEARO region- with 60% out-of-pocket health expenditure-has the highest in the world, reduction of which is crucial to attain universal health coverage. Priority strengthening of community-based centers was emphasized, and so was grassroots training in public health in medical schools, with one model currently being tested under coordination of the WHO Collaborating Center for Medical Education at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. This falls directly in line with the IFMSA’s call for formal grassroots training in medical education. Four strategic directions for universal health coverage strengthening were identified: 1) Placement of primary health care strengthening as centerpiece for universal coverage. 2) Improving equity via social protection. 3) Improvement of service delivery, and 4) Strengthening capacities in the SEARO region. The IFMSA was the sole youth focal point at the meeting-which worked greatly in our favor. First in line to deliver our intervention on universal health coverage, it was very well received, especially by government representatives from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the WHO-SEARO Departments on Family Health and Research, and Health Systems Development. Lauded as ‘the boldest intervention presented today’, they especially commended on the ethical and restriction on intellectual property regulations to facilitate open access exchange, and essential drugs access and affordability. The next 67th Regional Committee Meeting of the SEARO 2014 will be held at Bangladesh themed Covering Every Birth and Death: Improving Civil Registration and Vital Statistics

International Conference on Public Health Priorities in the 21st Century: The Endgame of Tobacco 10-12 September 2013, New Delhi, India

South Asia has a burden of 30-39.9% smoking prevalence, with overall percentages of 11% for cigarettes and 12 % of bidis (CTLT Tobacco Atlas 2006)1, with the highest rates of oral cancer. The TCP India reports that low levels of awareness, poor enforcement of existing laws and relative affordability - have deterred tobacco control (Waterloo News, 2013)2. With the World Health Assembly target of 30% relative reduction in tobacco prevalence by 2025 and tobacco control identified as the most cost-effective way to reduce the NCDs death rates by 2% each year, an increasingly popular concept of Endgame Tobacco is gaining momentum, defined as a target of reducing world’s smokers to less than 5% by 2040. The Public Health Foundation of India, in collaborative support with the WHO and other prominent partners held one such conference International Conference on Public Health Priorities in the 21st Century: The Endgame for Tobacco at New Delhithe first if its kind- to bring together policy-makers and civil-society to foster the endgame dialogue. I had the opportunity to present a session on grassroots engagement in tobacco control amongst youth, and it’s role in the global health agenda. The conference provided impetus to build strategic cooperation and build operational, policy, and economic research capacity to meet the endgame target, with staunch support from the WHO Director-General herself, who called for definition and coalition-building towards the endgame goal. Protection from tobacco industry’s influence, plain packaging, alternative occupational avenues for tobacco farmers and workers, tobacco cessation models, and youth engagement, were some of the highlights of the conference. The Declaration “..calls on Governments, WHO, other UN agencies and the Conference of Parties to take leadership position in advancing the actions under FCTC and its protocols as well as the Global Action Plan on NCDs 2013-2020, while linking them to the evolving UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, and support the recommendations contained in this declaration to realize the vision of a world free from tobacco, within this century” References:

1. Samet, Jonathan, CTLT Tobacco Atlas 2006. The Tobacco Epidemic, Section C: Global Burden; Fundamentals of Tobacco Control, Module 1, Section C, Slide 2. Global Tobacco Control: Learning from the Experts. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2. Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project. Experts Predict 1.5 Million Smoking Deaths in India by 2020. University of Waterloo, Waterloo News, September 2013 Accessed on 30 November 2013, available at https://uwaterloo.ca/news/news/experts-predict-15-million-smoking-deathsindia-2020

WHO WPRO REPORT 2013

The member nations that constitute the Western Pacific Regional Committee of the WHO met in Manila from the 21st to the 25th of October to discuss health issues in the context of the Western Pacific Region. IFMSA sent a delegation that included the Regional Coordinator for Asia-Pacific and four medical student representatives from Australia, Taiwan and the Philippines. Our primary purposes were: • To learn about health challenges facing the Western Pacific and what is being done by the WHO to overcome these. • To act as the voice of medical students from around the region through written and verbal statements delivered to the delegates of the meeting. • To network with government health officials, WHO representatives, health professionals and activists, and members of civil society organisations. • To increase IFMSA’s visibility in the international health arena.

Major outcomes and opportunities for IFMSA in the meeting • Contacts made with other medical students from various countries in AsiaPacific (including countries which do not currently have IFMSA chapters such as Fiji and Vietnam). Plans are currently underway to introduce IFMSA chapters in these countries. • We drafted 3 statements – on Ageing and Health; Non-Communicable Diseases; and Women’s and Children’s Health; and were given the opportunity to deliver one of these (Non-Communicable Diseases) to the delegates of the 64th session. • Networking with representatives from pertinent Non-Governmental Organizations, for example the Alzheimer’s Association and Doctors without Borders. • Networking with health ministers and WHO representatives from around the Asia-Pacific region. • Improved knowledge base in what the major issues facing our region are, and what efforts are being undertaken by the WHO to overcome them. • Promoting IFMSA through informal meetings.

Shela Putri Sundawa

Eastern Meditareen Region

Skander Essafi SCOPH Regional Assistant for EMR ra.scoph.emr@gmail.com

Greetings SCOPH EMRians! Finally we are having our new version of the 2014 SCOPH Manual! Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to make of this manual, a valuable tool for the SCOPHian! Thanks to Marwa Daly, Development Assistant on Publications for this huge initiative. SCOPH EMR is doing its best to get involved and improve its activities, and it's still on process So far we hope that it will meet your expectations, We are waiting for your feedbacks Orange Hi-Five!

Skander Essafi

Eastern Meditareen Regional Meeting

Asim Al Omari IFMSA Jordan asim_omari@outlook.com

On a wonderful beachfront overlooking the Arabian Gulf we came together. SCOPHeroes from all reaches of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, come together to rock EMR10. Needless to say, that was a mission accomplished in full. For three full days in January, we had a respite from the cold in many of our respective homes and from coursework, to meet with our peers in the wonderful city of Kuwait. After the obligatory introductions were made, and ground rules set, we kicked off the first day with an ice breaker: Speed Dating. True to the name, that got us acquainted with one another quickly enough. We followed that up with an Open Space Technology (OST) session, where we were split into groups brainstorming on 3 different themes: Research and Substance Abuse, Child Health Education, and Advocacy and Tobacco. We tackled these headers from multiple aspects, with many splendid ideas being put forth. The next day, after having a fabulous morning out in the city, we were ready to get back to business. First we heard from the facilitators of the OST session who presented the ideas discussed and suggested projects to tackle the issues, all the while inviting feedback. Afterwards, we heard about a project focusing on Hygiene amongst schoolchildren in Egypt, and we were all invited to beautiful Iran for the International Public Health Summer School this year. We then shifted gears to talk about mental health. After viewing a thought provoking video on the topic, we got together in groups to brainstorm on the defining factors and determinants of Mental Health and how to preserve it, in addition to defining Mental Illness and how to deal with it on a societal scale. In keeping with that theme, LeMSIC presented a campaign they’ve undertaken in Lebanon, and invited us to join them for a mental Health camp in Beirut over the summer. We also were told of a new international PSWG on mental health. We followed that up with a training session on the basics of project management facilitated by our RA on Projects. After our primer on what makes a great project and its implementation, we were split into groups and challenged to come up with a workable project in 3 minutes. The presentations of the projects taught us that even a delectable feast can be SMART! On the final day we started off with an energizer, then heard from the president of BeMSA, Manon Pigeolet about desires and plans for reform within SCOPH and the IFMSA. We then compared and discussed Global, International and Public Health, and the challenges that await. During a delicious coffee break, questions pertaining to different aspects of Public Health and the IFMSA were posted on the walls, which was a wonderful chance to contribute. Having refueled during the break, we were ready for the projects competition. All three of the projects presented were fabulous, but the one that took the crown was SQU-MSG’s “Silence to Consider”, a truly powerful video tackling road safety awareness which as of this writing has racked up well over 200 thousand views on Youtube. Afterwards, we heard announcements with regards to SCOPH exchange, the implantation of a Project Database, and a call for input for SCOPH publications. Following the announcements, we had a chance to post feedback about the previous sessions, before we came to the final moments: Check Out. In the time we were together we shared many experiences, from good natured energizers to punishing those who broke the ground rules, to the coffee breaks that fed our hungry brains and kept them sharp. Somehow, we even found time to learn. Emotions were certainly running high as we each said our heartfelt farewells in turn, having bonded immensely in the three days we had been there, and made lifelong friends and memories.

51 50

60th WHO EMRO RC Report 60th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean October 28th-30th, 2013, Muscat, Oman. Dear NMOs, We are so pleased to share with you our participations report to the 60th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean held in Muscat, Oman. Brief description and primary purpose of attending the meeting Strengthen IFMSA within EMR by: -Starting the primary contacts to invite Yemen and Djibouti joining IFMSA -WHO EMRO internships: Update and discussions follow up -Delivering interventions on major points of the technical agenda expressing the IFMSA position -Promoting IFMSA Publications -Contacting officials from WHO EMRO and regional partners’ representatives. Promote the March Meeting 2014: Partners, MOH of Tunisia, experts for the theme. IFMSA interventions: The IFMSA delegation to EMRO RC60 was able to prepare four interventions on: -Non Communicable disease -Universal Health Coverage. -Health within Post 2015 development agenda -Saving the lives of mothers and children Since we were the youngest delegation to the meeting, we were given attention and our interventions were well received by some government and NGO representatives. We particularly touched to deliver intervention based on evidences from the region, the real health situation of member states and also on the former resolutions adopted within the WHO EMRO. We have been called “The Future Healthcare Providers” and received special compliments regarding our great efforts. We are particularly proud of having IFMSA statement recommendations on Universal Health Coverage and Mother and Children Health integrated in the final related resolutions of the meeting

56 Mohamed Arfaoui Associamed Tunisia arfaoui.mouhamed@gmail.com

-Topics that might be covered in this department: maternal/child health ; disability ; SDH; Elderly health; Adolescent Health. -What is an intern supposed to do: it would depend on his/her skills , basically some literature review, updating the website, fieldwork in Cairo, framework learning, work on retrospective studies... -For the requirement and the duration, it will be based on those from the Headquarters in Geneva…Then we’ll start to build up some adapted regional requirements and selection process.( starting from 4 -Duration of the internship: 6 weeks up to 3 months, available the whole year. IFMSA interventions:

The IFMSA delegation to EMRO RC60 was able to prepare four interventions on: -Non Communicable disease -Universal Health Coverage. -Health within Post 2015 development agenda -Saving the lives of mothers and children Because of a delay on the agenda of the first day, NGOs were not allowed to take part of discussion on NCDs but we delivered our statement to the secretariat. Since we were the youngest delegation to the meeting, we were given attention and our interventions were well received by some government and NGO representatives. We particularly touched to deliver intervention based on evidences from the region, the real health situation of member states and also on the former resolutions adopted within the WHO EMRO. We have been called “The Future Healthcare Providers” and received special compliments regarding our great efforts. We are particularly proud of having IFMSA statement recommendations on Universal Health Coverage and Mother and Children Health integrated in the final related resolutions of the meeting. All statements are attached to this report. NB: There is no deadline to submit interventions during the meeting; we just had to raise the IFMSA card.

58 Additional comments and useful tips for future delegates

As delegates who have participated in such prestigious event for the first time, we recommend to: -Increase EMR NMOs participation and offer opportunities for fundraising. -Make sure there is at least one delegate with WHO experience. -Implement a consultative process within the regions to have more input from NMOs. A close collaboration between delegates, RC and LO to WHO is more than necessary to guarantee an efficient IFMSA participation to this meeting or any other similar meeting in the region. -NMOs of the region to spend more efforts on making their organization well known nationally, not only at their universities scale. Collaboration opportunities between the NMO and authorities exists and have to be looked for. Yours Truly, Mohamed Arfaoui (Head of the Delegation) Skander Essafi (IFMSA delegate)

The IFMSA delegation raising the card to deliver their intervention on post2015

Head of the delegations Official Picture