MSI44 | SCOPH Articles

Ibrahim Abusufian Elkabashi Dafallah
Alzaiem Alazhari University | MedSIN-Sudan

Since the inception of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda in 2015, the promotions and recommendations of Universal health coverage (UHC) have been a the forefront of the global agenda to achieving health equity with considerable progress made up until the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the previous two decades, the health expenditure of countries and external aid has drastically increased. Yet, the majority of the increase was noted in high-income countries- accounting for 80% of total health expenditure, while an increase in external aid has caused a drop in health spending in low-income countries(2), leading to worldwide disparities and dependency. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic then shook many health systems around the globe with some of the most prepared countries facing the pandemic poorly. Global health reviews suggest that this can be attributed to the lack of evidence-based decision- making and socio-political influences on healthcare decisions. (…)

Iftekhar Ahmed Sakib
Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College | BMSS Bangladesh

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. (…)

Angelica G. Montilla, Danilo Peralta
UNIBE Medical School | ODEM-Dominican Republic

Infantile cerebral palsy (ICP) is the leading cause of childhood disability globally, which can occur between 1.5 and 2.5 per 1000 births. ICP not only has an impact on the patient›s motor skills, but is also evident in the social determinants of health surrounding the patient, exposing the inequalities that may exist in the environment in which patients with ICP lives. The nutritional management of a patient suffering from infantile cerebral palsy will be affected by a great diversity of organic problems that result in a poor nutritional status or in some cases to overfeeding. A study carried out in Cuba suggests that up to 80% of problems related to ingestion such as swallowing, suctioning or chewing can be found, as well as an 80% incidence of eating disorders in patients with ICP. These disorders, in addition to the difficulties of self-feeding, are evidence of how predisposed these children may be to a far from ideal nutritional status.(…)