Organ transplantation is a life-saving intervention for patients with organ failure. Hong Kong has an opt-in system, where individuals who wish to donate their organs must register in the Centralised Organ Donation Register. Organ donation rates in Hong Kong in 2020 were among the lowest globally, at 5.6 per million. Concurrently, there are more than 2,000 patients on the waitlist, with some waiting up to 29 years; many patients pass away while waiting. Worse still, the number of withdrawal applications from the Centralised Organ Donation Register has been increasing since 2018, with a recent spike of 2,880 withdrawals in early 2023.

Cultural factors, like traditional beliefs on preserving body integrity after death, misconceptions, and a lack of registration opportunities contribute to the low rate. Hence, AMSAHK launched the Organ Donation Ambassadors campaign to encourage organ donation through promotional booths, a 2-day workshop for medical students, and Instagram campaigns.

From 13th to 17th March 2023, three promotional booths were set up across university campuses. In collaboration with the Department of Health and the Eye Bank Coordinators, officials helped the public register under the Centralised Organ Donation Register and promote eye tissue donation. AMSAHK designed stickers, a photobooth, and an Instagram filter with promotional slogans. Individuals posted using the filter at our photobooth to raise awareness on social media, and the stickers were a popular souvenir. We recorded 355 new Centralised Organ Donation Register registrations and over 600 interactions on social media.

The 2-day event on organ donation took place on March 19th and 22nd, 2023. Participants gained an overview of organ donation in Hong Kong from Dr. Chau Ka-foon (Honorary President of the Hong Kong Transplant Sports Association), and learned about transplant surgery from Professor Chan See-ching (Vice President of the Hong Kong Organ Transplant Foundation). Participants also interviewed organ recipients, donor families, doctors, and nurses to understand how organ donation changes lives. Participants wrote articles and reflections after the interview, which are to be published in a booklet and shared with the public to further promote organ donation.

On the second day, the Eye Bank staff explained the eye tissue donation process and participants observed how eye tissues were stored at the Eye Bank. The Hospital Authority Organ Donation Coordinators discussed their role in organ donation, and Dr. Samuel Fung presented on Hong Kong’s organ donation system, how it differed from other countries, and shared insights from his experience in organ donation. Data from pre- and post-evaluation forms showed over 90% of participants felt more confident and were committed to promoting organ donation as ambassadors after the event.

The Instagram campaign featured interactive trivia, an Instagram filter, and educational posts on AMSAHK and SCOPH AMSAHK’s Instagram pages. The most popular post reached over 1,558 accounts, with a 15% engagement rate.

Ultimately, the activity resulted in more registered organ donors, increased awareness for organ donation, and empowered individuals as ambassadors for organ donation after learning about this cause from an interpersonal, social, institutional, and medical approach.

As of 2020, the number of cancer cases in Indonesia has reached 273 million people. For women themselves, the highest prevalence of cancer is in breast cancer which accounts for 30.8% of cases. Meanwhile, cervical cancer ranks second most with 36,633 cases or 9.2% of the total cancer cases in Indonesia.

Furthermore, based on the assessment that was distributed on 6-20 August, 2022 by SCORA CIMSA Indonesia which was filled in by 154 respondents, the majority of respondents did not know about things that increase the risk of breast cancer and cervical cancer. Almost all respondents had never done clinical detection of breast cancer and cervical cancer. Therefore, we are holding this campaign to increase public awareness to take preventive action and early detection of this cancer.

This campaign will be held on 4 October – 3 November online. This activity began by conducting a pre-campaign assessment of 154 general public in the age range of 14-39 years regarding knowledge, attitudes and behavior towards breast cancer and cervical cancer. SCORA CIMSA also publishes Instagram, a live Instagram talk show inviting Lovepink Indonesia and POI (Perhimpunan Onkologi Indonesia), and two short videos focusing on the HPV vaccine in collaboration with WHO Indonesia. SCORA CIMSA also held training activities on the HPV Vaccine which invited the Director of Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, as well as a Yoga Session with DNA Fit Limitless. Through the website, SCORA CIMSA publish articles on cervical cancer made by CIMSA alumnus. As a closing campaign activity, we published a Pink Message in collaboration with Elizabeth Rahajeng and Maria Rahajeng in order to spread awareness of breast cancer and cervical cancer.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2022 is one way CIMSA’s commitment to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases in Indonesia, which is contained in one of the CIMSA policy documents on Penyakit Tidak Menular (2021) which can be accessed through CIMSA website. This campaign also a support for the SDGs number 3 concerning Good Health and Well-Being. Besides that, our activity received a lot of appreciation from various parties.

India faces a surfeit of deadly communicable diseases like Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Typhoid etc. which show an increased prevalence specially during the rains resulting in loss of life and resources. So it was crucial to understand how to halt the spread of such diseases, especially considering that most of these diseases are easily preventable, at an individual and community level. 

Recognizing the need for improved awareness on prevention of communicable diseases, SCOPH MSAI launched, ‘CHIKITSA – Challenging Infections Through Strengthening Awareness’ a national community outreach and awareness campaign for educating the general population about infection prevention, with key emphasis on risk factors and their prevention. 

‘CHIKITSA’, Sanskrit for ‘Treatment’ is a befitting name since it aims to reduce the burden on tertiary prevention and prevent communicable diseases from occurring in the first place. The campaign consisted of an hour long on-ground awareness session organised by organisers locally, with the help of resources provided by the National Team. The awareness and outreach sessions were conducted through the monsoon months across the country. The online social media campaign involved a video describing signs and prevention of prevalent mosquito borne diseases, released on World Mosquito Day. 

This activity had 59 events spread around the country, involving 248 medical student volunteers and an outreach to 1,932 members of the general population. 61.31% of the target population understood what the monsoon related illnesses were in their state, and 70.68% could tell 2 or more than two ways of preventing these diseases. 77.62% of the target population could identify at least 2 general signs and symptoms for the diseases, and 61.26% were informed of the local trustworthy and economic health care facilities in their area. 

While community health education is an established primary prevention measure, utilising medical student volunteers to undertake the process of strengthening awareness as well as demonstrating important infection prevention and vector control practices in the Native Language of the community proved to be a great way to impact the general underprivileged population. Door-to-Door as well as Group Interaction of the volunteers with the participants, allowed them to spread information about key diseases prevalent in their area, as well as provided them with an opportunity to personalize their pitch for infection prevention on the basis of the health status and visible practices of the individual and community, allowing for better health education interventions. 

With the second edition of CHIKITSA this term, SCOPH MSAI hopes to reach an even wider population with a special focus on disadvantaged populations and a donation drive of mosquito nets and mosquito repellents to further solidify the message of prevention- the sacred cornerstone of public health.

8 out of 10 women in Egypt are victims of this tragic crime.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) which is all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. It is a pressing issue which has affected almost 86% of Egyptian married women between the ages of 15 according to the Egyptian Family Health Survey – 2021.

Egypt has been evolving for the last decade when it comes to the sexual health and rights, but due to some traditional beliefs, there are some taboo issues that have been neglected including FGM, so as part of our duty towards our country and region, We in IFMSA-Egypt have took it upon ourselves to break these taboos clouded by years of religious misconceptions and society standards, and our plan is the Anti-FGM Project.

The Anti-FGM Project started a few years ago, when multiple organizations collaborated to pass the law to criminalize FGM, we succeeded in enforcing laws, but we discovered that unlike laws, brains and minds can’t be enforced, they need to be influenced, and convinced, so we did just that, setting out to build the capacity of medical students & healthcare workforce and raising the awareness of the general public, thus having 2 barriers decreasing and stopping the prevalence of FGM laws and knowledge, and with that we could end FGM and further evolve sexual and reproductive health and rights and work towards Egypt Vision 2030.

This year we initiated the 1st edition of the Anti-FGM Summit in Egypt, which was the biggest gathering of different stakeholders, medical students and general public to tackle FGM from different perspectives especially the religious and medical sides, and having our national policy document translated into arabic and used as policy briefs.

We followed up on the summit with 3 Workshops in collaboration with the Egyptian Doctors Syndicate which were held in Upper Egypt which has highest prevalence of FGM, and a workshop about medicalization of FGM which is a pressing issue in Egypt. Years working on this project, loads of statistics gathered, and a lifetime of hands-on experience had to be crowned and documented for sustainability in IFMSA-Egypt’s first Anti-FGM Manual that we published after that, in both arabic and English to be the main resource and data for our Egyptian advocates to use in their -hopefully- short journey. Whilst having a form for survivors to share their stories and guide us in our efforts to really do no harm in our advocacy.

IFMSA-Egypt is fighting FGM all over the country with local coordinators being capacitated in various workshops and competency modules. We Worked, are working and will work on Anti-FGM Project until the percentage becomes zero, with thousands of Medical students, Healthcare workforce and general public reached, they are the future and the future will be better. Though much has been achieved over the past two decades in lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding FGM, there is still an enormous amount of efforts to be done.

Health systems are the foundation for achieving and ensuring health for all. However, healthcare systems worldwide still face lots of challenges, such as Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and sustainability. Almost 2 billion people still face catastrophic or impoverishing health spending.

Lack of economic and human resources, administrative, and political barriers are some of the challenges preventing health systems from achieving UHC. It is therefore with noted emotion that we present this year’s Barcelona Global Health Summer School 2023: Health Systems. Every year after exam season, the BGHSS is the most cared for and awaited project in AECS, and thus every edition comes with researched and pragmatic improvements.

Despite being a 5-day intensive international course with all that it entails, the BGHSS23 has been awarded the “Most Sustainable Activity” prize on the EuRegMe23. This has been the result of putting great effort and teamwork into merging two concepts that sometimes seem antagonistic: sustainability and high standards.

On the one hand, we seek to deliver high-quality sessions by international professionals and a cutting-edge panel discussion focused on inspiring youth advocates to discover and pursue innovations in health systems, without forgetting training sessions on activity management and advocacy. Although our school is based in a very privileged setting, it is our mission to offer an education focused on diversity, inclusivity, equity, and meaningful youth engagement.

In order to ensure that we spread the seed and help it grow roots around the globe, this year we are ditching the phrase “What happens in Barcelona, stays in Barcelona” and have included a year-round follow-up on our participants to strengthen international networks, support collaborations, and motivate the design of new projects tackling health systems.

On the other hand, we recognize the often irresponsible carbon footprint that in-person events leave behind, so we are, step by step, getting ahead of it. The BGHSS22 implemented a 100% plant-based, locally sourced menu with disposable packaging, strived to support our public transport network and our beautiful pathways, and refrained from physical invitation packages, memoranda, and physical materials for the sessions.

This year we’re going a step further (and a footprint back) by implementing our new waste management system, allocating a Sustainability Supervisor, providing an extensive and practical survival kit, and advocating for a neighborhood-friendly social program, tackling the overcrowding and unsustainable tourism that characterize the city of Barcelona.

To close this article, we wanted to point out that we believe that the BGHSS23 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that guarantees both deep personal and professional growth. An event that puts participants face-to-face with relevant stakeholders and change-drivers in the healthcare sector, allowing them to build connections and develop a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the challenges that our health systems face at a global level. And, lastly, a memorable and down-to-earth event that is steadily built with a lot of care for over 8 months, that leaves participants with a glowing spark in their advocates hearts.

WHO Simulation 2023 A Powerful Platform to Learn Global Health Diplomacy With a view to celebrating the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO), Bangladesh Medical Students’ Society (BMSS) in collaboration with WHO Bangladesh organized the WHO Simulation 2023 on 28th and 29th April. This simulation of the World Health Assembly aimed to address critical global health challenges and foster sustainable solutions.

The needs assessment conducted by BMSS and WHO revealed the students’ lack of knowledge on Universal Health Coverage. However, it clearly showed the passion of the medical students to contribute to global health in their professional lives. As a result, WHO Simulation was planned to empower participants with skills in health diplomacy while enhancing their understanding of health policy formulation and implementation.

With over 500 medical students from 40 medical colleges, this immersive event included pre-event training sessions, policy formulation exercises, negotiation rounds, and plenary sessions where participants presented the resolutions. Participants delved into discussions surrounding universal health coverage, heath technologies, maternal and child health, gender equality, communicable and non-communicable diseases and health literacy.

The success of this event is clearly reflected in the post-evaluation where 70% participants will conduct a similar simulation at their medical colleges. The activity impacted the medical students through these 3 key areas: Global Collaboration, Youth Empowerment and Policy Formulation. The combined expertise and resources of about 30 other key external organizations working on the health care sector along with high profile guests from the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Members of Parliament ensured a robust and immersive outcome.

This event was financed by WHO, promoted from the official social media handles of WHO Bangladesh and post event report was published from the official website of WHO. This is the first time in Bangladesh that the country office of WHO collaborated with a medical student organization. Their guidance and support added a layer of credibility and authenticity to the event, and exemplified the importance of synergistic partnerships between all stakeholders in promoting sustainable healthcare practices.

The 5 resolutions of the event will be used by WHO in arenas of policy making as a voice of the youth of this country which further added to the innovation and impact created by this event.

A follow-up activity named ‘WHO Walk The Talk’ with the participants of WHO Simulation is being organized in August 2023 to celebrate the impact of WHO on Global Health.

BMSS has also signed an MOU with WHO Bangladesh to host WHO Simulation in 10 local committees. By establishing a 8 member youth delegation, BMSS will oversee all these collaborations with WHO. WHO Simulation 2023 is the biggest activity yet by BMSS and can serve as an example for other NMOs to organize a simulation of World Health Assembly in their respective countries and create the passion amongst the medical students on global health governance.

Regular physical activity is crucial for the overall development and well-being of children. However, the closure of sports centers and schools during the pandemic has limited opportunities for children to participate in sports. In response to this challenge, the “Kid on the Move: Encouraging to do Sport” campaign was organized by the local committee of IFMSA Brazil Uninove Guarulhos. This article explores the objectives, activities, and outcomes of the campaign in promoting sports engagement among children in Guarulhos.

Campaign Objectives: The primary objectives of the campaign were to provide recreational activities for school-age children, raise awareness about the importance of sports for children’s health, encourage children to incorporate sports into their daily lives, and assess children’s screen time usage.

Activities and Implementation: The campaign, held on October 12th at Parque Bosque Maia, featured a range of exercises and games, including jumping rope, athletics, soccer, and gymkhana. The event was publicized by the Municipal Sports Department and promoted through schools and a local radio station. A team of 30 academics and a physical educator were selected to lead the activities. Between the games, there were interactive discussions emphasizing the significance of sports and the potential negative effects of excessive screen time on children’s health.

Impact Assessment and Outcomes: The impact of the campaign was evaluated through pre- and post-activity questionnaires. In the pre-test, 256 children participated, with 90% reporting more than three hours of daily screen time. However, only 91 children completed the post-test, indicating a 38.5% participation rate in such activities. Encouragingly, 80% of respondents expressed their intention to start practicing a new sport, and there was a notable 20% increase in the number of participants recognizing the importance of sports.

Feedback and Satisfaction: The participants’ feedback indicated high levels of satisfaction, with over 90% rating the campaign with a perfect score. Additionally, 98.6% of respondents affirmed the importance of sports, showcasing a positive shift in their perception after the event. The campaign’s success was further enhanced by a partnership with the Municipal Sports Secretariat, which facilitated greater project visibility, while sponsored amenities like sound systems, face painting tools, balloons, and refreshments added to the fun-filled atmosphere.

Conclusion: The “Kid on the Move: Encouraging to do Sport” campaign successfully provided a platform for children in Guarulhos to engage in physical activities and understand the significance of sports in their lives. By inspiring children to adopt an active lifestyle, the campaign played a crucial role in promoting their overall well-being and development.