7th World Health Summit Regional Meeting – A milestone for Meaningful Youth Participation

Between 29th and 30th of April 2019, IFMSA was present at the 7th World Health Summit Regional Meeting, which took place in Kish Island, Iran. IFMSA was represented in the summit by the Liaison Officer to Student Organizations (LOSO), Teodor Cristian Blidaru.
The World Health Summit (WHS) is a meeting place for stakeholders and decision-makers from every health-related field, providing the ideal forum for exchange with experts from academia, industry, politics and civil society. The WHS’s academic think tank is provided by the M8 Alliance, a unique collaborative network made up of leading international medical universities and research institutions.
Attended by 750 participants, 143 speakers, 200 students, high-level policy makers, leaders of the M8 Alliance, representatives of the private sector, academia, international organizations, the civil society, and media, from 47 countries, the Regional Meeting was a tremendous success to set global health agenda. Over 29 parallel panels, 4 plenary sessions, 6 student workshops, global launch of three prestigious peer-reviewed publications, students’ mentorship meeting with global experts, mini marathon running in memory of the victims of recent flood in Iran, provided a platform for dialogue and scientific discussion, and created a powerful space for global health and youth!

Multiple interventions regarding youth involvement were done during the event
This edition was an extremely special one for students, in the spirit of Meaningful Youth Participation, as for the first time multiple students are attending the event and have the opportunity to connect with stakeholders and contribute. The idea of creating a students’ network for the WHS comes not only because we are the future healthcare professionals, but also because today’s student bodies, such as IFMSA, possess a huge potential for action, research and advocacy.
Besides the youth pre-event, attended by more than 200 students, for the first time in history, the 7th WHS regional meeting hosted a panel on students’ capacity in global health. The panel provided the opportunity to present and debate the capacities of new generations’ involvement in public health. The rainbow of panelists ranged from world-famous global health leaders to young professionals and students, including IFMSA’s representative. Successful examples were presented to the audience, emphasizing on strengthening young healthcare involvement in shaping global health.

The panel of “Students’ Capacity in Global Health”
The Summit was also attended by many IFMSA members and health students from different countries all over the world and we applaud the decision to include students to this extent, giving the opportunity to showcase the work and opinions of 1.3 million members.

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