Medical Student International
health learning for meeting local needs, or instead lead to global health inequalities by encouraging young physicians to move from their places of origin and training to new locations, which are often more lucrative but where they are needed least. I am sure many of our members will feel uncomfortable about this matter, but if we truly want to close the health gap, this one cannot be ignored. Time to Become Revolutionary Doctors Sometimes, no matter how wellinformed, updated, and passionate I am about the issue of social determinants and health equity, I feel that I still do not have the exact answers. But also I think what is important now is that we, medical students, have already started talking about it – that we condemn the inequalities in health, that we understand the root causes of ill health and health inequities, and that we seek for ways to change the status quo. The members of the IFMSA delegation even expressed this desire in a statement distributed during the final day of the World Conference: “We medical students commit ourselves to continue engaging with all sectors involved in the work towards global health equity, spreading awareness of the social dimensions of health to our fellow young people, mobilising them to take action in their respective communities and countries, doing our part, little by little, but with courage, constancy, and conviction.” [20] We therefore invite every member of this Federation to embrace this commitment, now as medical students, and beyond, when we become doctors of the future, until we see the day when, in the words of former UN secretary-general Kofi Anan, “health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for.” This year and beyond, we, IFMSA, must keep reminding the global health world that we, medical students and young people at large, are not mere observers or beneficiaries, but are key players in this global movement. We will inherit this current global health regime sooner rather than later, and so we must exhaust all the platforms within our reach not tomorrow but now. So, after Rio, where to? For IFMSA and medical students worldwide, it is time to, quoting from a new book entitled Revolutionary Doctors, “combine the humanitarian mission of medicine with the creation of a just society” [21]. Realising this requires an unwavering commitment to social determinants and “health for all.”
medical students worldwide
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[15] Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland. Minister Guzenina-Richardson: The welfare state is the best medicine against growing health inequalities. [Online]. Available from: www. stm.fi/tiedotteet/tiedote/view/1569646#en. [Accessed 3rd December 2011]. [16] Guinto, R, et al. Students’ perspective on rooting out causes of health injustice. [Online] Lancet, October 20, 2011. Available from: doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61628-0. [Accessed 20th October 2011]. [17] Chan, M. Dr. Chan’s vision on WHO priorities and strategies [Online]. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2011. Available from: http:// www.who.int/mediacentre/events/governance/ dgelection/2012/CV_Chan_2011.pdf. [Accessed 25th December 2011]. [18] International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. Policy statement on health inequity and the social determinants of health. Jakarta, Indonesia, 60th March General Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. March, 2011. Available from: http://www.ifmsa.org [Accessed 26th September 2011]. [19] Globalization and Health Knowledge Network. Towards health-equitable globalisation: rights, regulation and redistribution. Final report of the Globalisation Knowledge Network of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2007. [20] International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. Medical Students’ Perspective on the Rio Declaration. October 21, 2011. Available from: ifmsa.wordpress.com [Accessed 21st October 2011]. [21] Brouwer, S. Revolutionary Doctors: How Venezuela and Cuba are changing the world’s conception of health care. New York: Monthly Press Review, 2011.
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