international
71ST SESSION OF WHO EUROPE REGIONAL COMMITTEE Text: Stephanie Hauser | University of Bern In September 2021 I attended the 71st session of the WHO Europe Regional Committee (RC71) as a member of the International Federation of Medi cal Students’ Association (IFMSA) delegation. We were eight delegates, from all over Europe, and attended this six day conference virtually. We started the meeting early, with the Young People and Young Professionals Forum (YPYP Forum). This event was planned and hosted by the IFMSA, the International Pharmaceutical Stu dents Federation (IPSF) and the European Medi cal Students Association (EMSA) in collaboration with WHO/Europe. Students across the region gathered together and discussed two matters. Firstly they gave input to the recently published report of the Pan-European Commission on Heal th and Sustainable Development and spoke di rectly to its chairperson Professor Mario Monti. Secondly, the attendees agreed on a roadmap for engagement with younger people in the WHO European Region, which was presented to the WHO/Europe member states. The RC71 lasted for five days. The first two days focused heavily on the impact of COVID-19, as member states discussed the lessons learned from the pandemic, the role of primary health care and the European Immunization Agenda 2030. Additionally the European Program of Work 2020-2025 and the Report of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable develo pment was discussed. The following three days saw sessions on WHO Budget and Financing, Mental Health, Climate Change, Health L iteracy,
Oslo Medicines Initiative, Alcohol control Poli cies, Universal Health Coverage, Health for per sons with Disabilities and Health in Prisons. As IFMSA delegation we drafted several state ments, I in particular was excited to draft a sta tement on the COVID-19 impact on Medical Education. Additionally we spent the meeting engaging with medical students worldwide through our social media strategy. We also con ducted a gender watch, noting down the presu med gender and speaking time of all speakers during the event. Though women made up 56% of participants and 56% of interventions were made by women, only 45% of the speaking time was done by women. Attending a WHO meeting was very intimidating at first, but I quickly learnt that WHO meetings are not that different from national swimsa mee tings: many attendees, with different and unique perspectives, not enough time to hear everyone out, and many big ideas with struggles in imple mentation. What I take with me from this mee ting is very simple: Wherever you go, be it a WHO meeting or a meeting with a friend, take the time to listen and understand. swimsa
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