Scientific Program IFMSA Regional Meeting of the Americas - El Salvador 2013 March 4th, 2012
Scientific Program IFMSA Regional Meeting of the Americas - El Salvador 2013
The following document is intended, to present the two options that the Organizing Committee offers to the entire family of PAMSA, regarding the scientific program of our next regional meeting. The selection of the main theme will be handled by all, ensuring that the choice of this, is representative of our reality and interest as a region. In general, we report the importance of each of the two proposals:
Proposal No. 1: Maternal and Child Health as determinant of the development in America and the Caribbean The Maternal and Child Health should be understood as a state of complete physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, with the study of women from their reproductive years, through pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium; as well as, the child from newborn from the first and second childhood to adolescence. The study of this discipline allows us to identify, prevent, manage and evaluate those risk factors that influence it and helps us to keep health in general population. Justification: The survival and welfare of mothers and children are very important goals from the perspective of life and human dignity, but also are essential for achieving the solution to many economic, social and community development difficulties in the world, especially in America and the Caribbean, not forgetting the lead role of developed countries, helping to solve it. The impact of the death or illness of a mother and her children has greater implications than just the human tragedy supposed for her family. The Maternal and Child Health is a key to reduce inequality and poverty in the world. According to John-Wook Lee, Executive Director of the WHO, "the welfare of society is directly related to health and survival of mothers and children if mothers survive and thrive, children survive and thrive. Similarly, if mothers and children survive and thrive, the societies in which they live will progress."
Areas of interest: Epidemiology: In the Americas and the Caribbean the most common causes of maternal death are: hemorrhage (20%), eclampsia (22%), other postpartum complications (15%), other direct causes (17%) and causes associated with abortion (11%). From all deaths, only in 15% of cases, the cause is associated with the presence of pre-existing diseases aggravated by pregnancy. This distribution of reflected causality can be avoided by more than 80% of cases, with the appropriate strategies for diagnosis and treatment. Despite the decline in mortality indicators, this phenomenon remains one of the problems of major health impact in the region, being shown in the following WHO figures:  Every minute, a woman dies from complications during pregnancy and childbirth, that is: 1440 each day and more than half a million at the end of the year.  Every minute 20 children under the age of five dies, representing a total of approximately 30,000 children deaths every day and 10, 6 million a year. For every two people killed in a road accident, a mother and 20 children with preventable or treatable diseases die. There is a set of preventable and treatable diseases that are responsible for more than 70% of all infant deaths (pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles, HIV / AIDS and perinatal conditions). Although not usually included among the direct causes: malnutrition, is involved in more than half of the deaths. Economic consequences: The negligence on Maternal and Child health in America and the Caribbean, according to WHO, is one of the main reasons why households become poor and remain on this condition. When a mother becomes sick or dies, her productive contribution to the household, to the economy and to the society is lost, and the survival and education of their children are threatened. Fields of action: It is now equipped with knowledge and effective means that can be applied even in developing countries, but progress has stagnated, exemplified by the WHO reports that maintain that at current rates, it would take over 150years to reduce child mortality by two thirds (one of the Millennium development Goals by 2015). To act effectively against this situation it is necessary that the international community, governments, civil society institutions and even citizens in face the problem from different perspectives.
Only in this way it is possible to prevent yearly deaths of more than half a million mothers from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and 10.6 million children deaths under age of five due to preventable and treatable diseases. Increased access to higher levels of education and greater investment in public health with specific programs for the most vulnerable, are the common factors in countries with better results as happens in some countries of America and the Caribbean. References: http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/en/index.html
Proposal No. 2: Health systems in America and the Caribbean A health system is the sum of all organizations, institutions and resources whose primary objective seeks to improve the health of their communities. A health system needs staff, funding, information, supplies, transport and communications, as well as general guidance and direction. An adequate health system must also provide good treatments and services that meet the needs of the population and are fair from a financial standpoint. While WHO recognizes that the primary responsibility for the overall performance of the health system of a country is the government, it also recognizes the fundamental importance of good steering role of the regions, municipalities and each of the health institutions.
Justification: The region is facing today, a process of change and transformation unprecedented in the context of globalization that has enveloped the world in the new millennium. The political, economical and social needs of the region face great challenges, because of the different rearrangements among the major power blocks and new rules in the global economical and political scenario. Specifically in the health sector, we see crudely the crisis hitting the countries of the region, expressed in problems of accessibility and coverage to health care services and the progressive deterioration of health on the population.
Strengthening health systems and increasing their equity are key strategies to combat poverty and promote development, remembering that not only developing countries have difficulties in their health system, as in developed countries there are also large segments of the population without access to health care since social protection mechanisms are imbalanced and others are struggling with rising costs due to inefficient usage of resources. Areas of interest: A growing number of WHO Member States, political leaders around the world, and those responsible for international health recognize the urgent need to take a substantial and sustained commitment to strengthening health systems. This renewed interest in politics offers a great opportunity to make lasting improvements that are beneficial in various disease areas and different health programs, and to intensify global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Basic Elements of Health Systems: Provision of services: good health services are those that allow quality interventions which are effective, safe, personal or otherwise, aimed at those who need, when and where needed, avoiding most of the waste of resources. Medical products, vaccines and technologies: A health system that works properly has to enable equitable access to essential medical products, vaccines and technologies of assured quality, safe and cost-effective and its use to be scientifically rational and cost effective. Health Staffing: Health staff performs well when responding to the needs and act fairly and effectively to achieve the best possible outcomes in health, given available resources and the circumstances in which it is (that is, it must have sufficient staff, fairly distributed, which is competent, qualified and productive). Financing of the health system: A good system of health financing should raise sufficient funds to enable the population to have access to needed services and be protected against the risk of catastrophic expenses and impoverishment linked to the provision of such services. It should also provide incentives for providers and users.
Health Information System: A system of well-functioning health information must ensure the production, analysis, dissemination and use of reliable and timely information on the determinants of health, health system performance and the state of health of its population. Leadership and governance: leadership and governance assume the existence of a strategic policy framework, together with effective monitoring and the creation of alliances, the establishment of rules, attention to the design of systems and accountability accounts. References: http://www.who.int/healthsystems/en/index.html