Call for submissions: IPSF-AfRO Essay Competition

IPSF-AfRO ESSAY COMPETITION

IPSF-AfRO CALL FOR ESSAY COMPETITION 2021 On behalf of the IPSF African Regional Office (AfRO) Regional Working Group, I am pleased to announce the call for the dual language essay competition.

TOPIC: “Planetary health dialogues: Perspectives of the youth and pharmacists in a global pandemic”.

BACKGROUND: Planetary health, officially launched in 2015 by the Rockefeller Foundation -Lancet Commission on Planetary Health, is a new and emerging field of science that spans disciplines and sectors and seeks to address the efficient protection of the planet earth, its inhabitants and resources, including ecosystems, in an ultimate quest to safeguard the health of humans-sustainability and development of civilisation.

In addition to public health and environmental health considerations, planetary health examines upstream political, economic, and social systems and calls for an interdisciplinary approach. The original planetary health manifesto and the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health defined planetary health as “… the achievement of the highest attainable standard of health, wellbeing, and equity worldwide through judicious attention to the human systems—political, economic, and social—that shape the future of humanity and the Earth’s natural systems that define the safe environmental limits within which humanity can flourish. Put simply, planetary health is the health of human civilisation and the state of the natural systems on which it depends.”

Planetary health promotion activities have span from natural hazards and disasters, air quality advocacy, sustainability of safe food production, protection of our water bodies and wetlands, just to mention a few. A concrete example under air pollution has been described below: “WHO estimated that exposures to polluted soil, water, and air contributed in 2012 to an estimated 8.9 million deaths worldwide—8.4 million (94%) in low-and-middle-income countries.

Different pollutants are linked in children to noncommunicable diseases (such as asthma), cognitive disorders and perinatal defects, and among adults to heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Although environmental pollution is reaching disturbing proportions worldwide, it remains a neglected problem in national policies and on international development agendas. Pollution imposes a great cost to society—in the US alone, the price tag is US$76.6 billion.

Successful control strategies deployed by high-income countries include reducing exposure at source (such as removing lead from gasoline), banning asbestos, and crafting policies to reduce water and air pollution. Such strategies have proven incredibly cost-effective. Removal of lead from gasoline has returned approximately $200 billion to the US economy each year since 1980.”

On March 26, 2021, the IPSF Chairperson of Public Health announced the federation’s membership in the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA), in line with our plans to work more on environmental issues and connecting them to health and our members. Now on such a great platform as we have with the biggest gathering of pharmacy students on the African continent (AfPS) and with a theme focusing mainly on highlighting novel perspectives to propel Africa to

achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the set target date of 2030, it is meet that we discuss and take action on the health of our planet and how that can help us prevent or overcome unforeseen global crisis/disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic that the world is facing.

It is natural during the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic to focus on emergency response planning, including containment, treatment procedures, and vaccine development, and nobody would doubt the need for these measures. However, an emergency can also open a window of opportunity for reflection and learning. We live in increasingly global, interdependent, and environmentally constrained societies and the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies these aspects of our world. We would therefore be wise to take a broad integrated perspective on this disease, the impacts of which are already spilling over into the realms of economics, international trade, politics, and inequality. Resilience planning needs to cope with these cascading impacts, and prevention efforts require a similarly wide lens to encompass ecosystems, wild animal disease surveillance, agricultural practices, eating habits, and cultural traditions and contexts. In other words, we need a planetary health perspective that cuts across traditional domains of knowledge, governance, and economic sectors to properly address the challenge posed by COVID-19.

In summary, this essay competition will be highlighting perspectives of young people and of pharmacists on how our planet can be safeguarded in times of COVID-19; how COVID-19 will positively or negatively affect the health of the planet and hence our civilisation; how pharmacists can champion the inclusion of planetary health into public health; and the essay competition will seek to elucidate strategies that can be employed to overcome climate-related economic, sociopolitical, and health risks.

Below are some resources that can be used for research purposes ONLY: 1. Clinicians for planetary health resources 2. COVID-19 and Planetary Health: How a Pandemic Could Pave the Way for a Green Recovery 3. Climate, COVID-19 and Planetary Health 4. COVID-19: Reimagining the political economy of planetary health 5. COVID-19: Opportunities for cities to advance planetary health 6. Disruption as an opportunity: giving rise to a global ethos for planetary health REFERENCES • https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/2030-agenda-for-sustainabledevelopment/people/health/planetary-health.html • https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/3/5/e001137.full.pdf • https://www.globalhealthnow.org/2017-09/whats-difference-planetary-health-explained

GUIDELINES: The essay should: Be in either French or English (Each participant can submit in only one language) Follow the IPSF Editorial Code (See appendix) Be between 550-600 words Clearly show the necessary information and content in line with the topic Have clear references from trusted sources; APA referencing style preferred.

NOT BE PLAGIARISED IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM. Resources provided are for research and reference purposes only. All references should be adequately cited where appropriate.

Be typed in Microsoft Word and converted to pdf format; Times New Roman; font size 12; double spaced; and file named: IPSF-AfRO Essay Competition – [Insert participant name], [Insert participant association acronym].

Should be submitted not later than 30th April 2021 23:59 GMT+0 Awards: I. Participants with the winning essay in each language category will have 50% of their registration fee for the 9th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium (AfPS) 2021, Bamako – Mali waived/refunded.

II. The first two winning Essays in each language category will be published on the AfPS social media pages and the IPSF-AfRO social media pages and blog.

III. The winning essay in each language category will be guided on how to make an abstract and earn a spot to present at the 9th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium (AfPS) 2021, Bamako - Mali.

IV. Winners and runners-up in each language category will be recognized and awarded certificates during the awards ceremony at the Gala night of the 9th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium (AfPS) 2021, Bamako - Mali.

All essays must be submitted to the IPSF AfRO Regional Secretary, Mr. Foday Umaro Turay, at the email address: secretary@afro.ipsf.org and the IPSF AfRO Projects Officer, Mr. Noah Sesay, should be CCed at rpo@afro.ipsf.org. All submissions must be received not later than the aforementioned deadline. The subject line of the email should be: IPSF-AfRO Essay Competition.

In case of any inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact me via the undersigned email address.

Foday Umaro Turay IPSF-AfRO Regional Secretary secretary@afro.ipsf.org Cell: (+232) 77 97-57-97

Appendix IPSF Editorial Code The Editorial Committee reserves the right to edit content for grammar, spelling and refining the style. All contributors to IPSF Publications are expected to adhere to the following Editorial Code: Contributors: • • • • • • • • •

Will respect IPSF’s principles and values, including those of respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

Will not make accusations against any named individuals or organizations, or otherwise make defamatory allegations.

Will take a balanced approach in all reporting and strive to put across alternative views and counter arguments.

Will not plagiarize, or copy, the work of others.

Will take good care and never put themselves or anyone else in danger.

By submitting any content (i.e. articles, pictures, and videos), you give IPSF copyright to distribute or republish said content on its websites or other platforms.

Give permission for content (i.e. articles, pictures, and videos) to be offered by IPSF to other media outlets and platforms free-of-payment. (Re-publication will not entail commercial benefit, but will give added exposure to contributors’ work) Will not claim to represent IPSF unless employed as such.

Will, above all, commit to professional standards and only submit articles regarding pharmacy, biomedicine, public health and scientific advances.