Change-Maker Scholarship Report 2019
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IFMSA Imprint Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization Charlotte O’Leary
PreWorld Health Assembly Delegates Kapil Narain Anjila Thapa Mohi Badr
Layout Design Muthia Huda
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Change-Maker Scholarship Report 2019
Contents 1
Welcome Message
2 About Alliance for Health Policy and Research System 2 About IFMSA 3 About the Pre World Health Assembly 5 Kapil Narain 7 Anjila Thapa 9 Mohi Badr
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Welcome Message I am so pleased to present this report for the inaugural Change-Maker Scholarship Program, generously sponsored by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. This year, for the first time ever, students from low and middle income countries were able to attend the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) Youth Pre World Health Assembly workshop (PreWHA) and the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) on a full scholarship sponsored by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. The opportunity to attend PreWHA, and then see health decision-making at the highest level at the WHA, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any young person with a passion for global health. As an organisation run for students, by students, the IFMSA understands that financial barriers are often prohibitive for students to participate in opportunities such as PreWHA and WHA. While we strive to raise funds through sponsorship, running an event in Geneva can be expensive. Providing a scholarship program for students from low and middle income countries has been a goal for many years, and we are delighted that we were able to provide three students with that opportunity this year. On behalf of the IFMSA, and all the Change-Maker Scholarship recipients, I would like to thank the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research for making this scholarship program a reality. The commitment of the Alliance to upskilling and inspiring the next generation of health policy and research leaders is admirable. We would like to especially recognise the contributions of Mr Jeff Knezovich, who got this collaboration off the ground, and to Dr Kabir Sheikh and Dr Abdul Ghaffar who generously gave their time to meet with our students and share their knowledge. I would also like to thank Dr Paula Reges, the PreWHA Finances Coordinator, for her great work in managing the finances for this program. Please find in this report some reflections from the Change-Maker Scholarship recipients, Ms Anjila Thapa (Nepal), Mr Kapil Narain (South Africa), and Mr Mohi Badr (Egypt). We would like to recognise the fourth scholarship recipient, Ms Marie-Claire Wangari (Kenya), who was unfortunately unable to attend PreWHA and WHA. We look forward to further collaboration with the Alliance in the future, and thank them again for their generous support. Best wishes, Charlotte O’Leary Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations lwho@ifmsa.org
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About the Alliance for Health Policy and Sytems Research The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research works to improve the health of those in lowand middle-income countries by supporting the generation and use of evidence that strengthens health systems. By bringing decision-makers and researchers together, the Alliance strives to identify research priorities that are responsive to the needs of countries. Since 1999, the Alliance has supported over 326 projects in 73 countries. They recognize the need to engage diverse actors in health policy and systems research, and target their support to ensure better inclusion of and participation by women, those in low- and middle-income countries and other historically underrepresented groups. Read more about the Alliance here http://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/en/
About IFMSA The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), founded in 1951, is one of the world’s oldest and largest student-run organizations. It represents, connects and engages every day with an inspiring and engaging network of 1.3 million medical students from 133 national members organizations in 123 countries around the globe. IFMSA brings people together to exchange, discuss and initiate projects to create a healthier world. It gives its members the skills and resources to be health leaders. It advocates for pressing issues that matter to shape the world we want. And it does deliver: our projects, our campaigns, and our activities positively impact the physicians-to-be and the communities they serve. For more information, please visit https://ifmsa.org
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About the Pre World Health Assembly Workshop The IFMSA PreWHA is a 4-day workshop that provides the opportunity for over 50 youth health advocates from all over the world to develop skills, gain knowledge, and contribute to collective advocacy. The PreWHA training revolves around analysing and exploring contemporary issues in global health that will be discussed in the agenda for the WHA. The PreWHA has been held every year since 2013, and is run entirely by a voluntary team of young people, for young people. This year, the PreWHA was held immediately prior to the 72nd WHA, between 15th-19th May 2019.
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‘Receiving the Change-Maker Scholarship changed my life.’ Through this scholarship I was able to attend the PreWHA and WHA – an experience which I, from an LMIC, have always yearned but due to lack of finances was never possible.
Kapil Narain Medical Student, South Africa
Due to the introduction and awarding of this scholarship – I can now, however, proudly state that this dream has become a reality. This has been without a doubt an opportunity of a lifetime and I am forever grateful and most appreciative to the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, for generously sponsoring us, to IFMSA for making this opportunity available, and to all other parties and individuals who were involved in making this scholarship possible. I cannot thank you all enough. According to our father, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and legend, Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. This quote resonates with every ounce of my being and with every experience of the PreWHA and WHA and of being in Geneva. At the PreWHA I experienced a robust academic programme covering a wide range of topics in global health including universal health coverage, health financing, meaningful youth participation and health systems, complemented with hands-on workshops about communication, epidemic emergency preparedness and public speaking and a vibrant social program. Through the PreWHA I was armed with an artillery of global health knowledge and consequently felt much more prepared to engage in the WHA in a meaningful manner. Furthermore, exploring the beauty of Geneva, the pristine atmosphere, and meeting many young people from all over the globe who shared the very same passion and possessed this like-mindedness about global health as I do, was certainly inspiring and re-energising. It reaffirmed the fact that there is hope for a bright future where we can implement sustainable health interventions and inch our way to a world where everyone receives the quality of health that they deserve without out of pocket expenditure. The WHO’s “Walk the Talk” fun run was a phenomenal experience. Not only was the atmosphere electric, but it was fantastic to be running with our delegation of IFMSA and moreover, being a future doctor, it was great to be setting a prime example of leading a healthy lifestyle as often doctors preach to their patients about exercise but don’t follow it themselves. Furthermore, it was wonderful to have had the honour of running with and meeting the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus (where
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we had a brief chat on the HIV epidemic) as well as with the first Lady of Kenya, the CEO of the International Association of Athletics Federations (where I had an interesting debate regarding the situation of Caster Semenya – an Olympic medalist from my country) and Zoleka Mandela (the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela). After experiencing a fantastic PreWHA and Walk the Talk, the stage had been set for the WHA. The atmosphere of the UN buildings – the same building where so many major resolutions have been decided made this a mind-blowing experience. Up till today I still cannot fathom how I – a youth from Africa – entered the UN buildings in Geneva on a daily basis as if it were an ordinary affair. Witnessing the plenary sessions, and committee meetings made me realize the importance of universal health coverage, access to medicines, climate change, emergency preparedness and international relations. A highlight for me was the opening plenary session where Dr Richard Horton discussed the importance of planetary health and fellow African, Ms Natasha Mwanza, championed youth involvement. Aside from knowledge of global health concepts which were accelerated by attending these meetings, I also became aware of the deep and stringent processes inherent in rigorous meetings like this. Furthermore I became cognizant of how these major discussions are dissected, analysed and structured and noted the nuances between Member States and NGOs perspectives. I also learnt immensely about specific topics of interest in global health in the many scintillating side events. One of my favourites was the technical briefing on UHC where Dr Tedors and many high level speakers thoroughly explored all the dimensions of UHC in an understandable manner. With the spirit and aim of growing as a youth leader, advocate and future global health academic, I had the opportunity of developing and honing my advocacy skills when I approached and met with several member-states including my own (South Africa). Here I advocated, based on IFMSA’s policies and key asks, for meaningful youth engagement and UHC. I was able to speak and socialize with many top level delegate from my ministry of health and international relations and I tried my best to open up the discussion on having youth delegates which may become a reality, with the support of our minister. I am already planning on furthering this discussion back home so that other students may have this opportunity of attending such a prolific event.
Throughout my wonderful experiences in Geneva, I can say a true highlight was being invited by the Alliance to meet the Executive Director, Dr Ghaffar, who I was so honoured to meet. Dr Ghaffar’s wisdom and attitude towards global health is certainly inspiring and seeing the work done by the Alliance has sparked a sense of intrigue into my possibly working in this field. Furthermore it was a delight to have been provided a brief tour of the WHO headquarters by Jeff accompanied with a quick ‘photo-shoot’. As an aspiring doctor, visiting the WHO headquarters is a dream come true! I also was able to visit the UNAIDS building for youth advocacy event by IFMSA, this too was an exciting experience for me as I am passionate about combating the HIV epidemic, especially with the high incidence in my country. I am also a research intern at the world class Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and have published a research paper on antibodies. Finally, I must state that this experience has been beyond my wildest imaginations of global health. It has far surpassed any of my expectations. I will utilize the networks made at this event to further understand and be even more active in the field and most importantly in a local capacity in order to improve communities here back home with the mantra of “think global, act local.” Furthermore, I have already started planning a series of short feedback sessions to share my wonderful experiences, which were only possible through the Alliance, to students in my university and country with the aims of inspiring and encouraging them to be active in the arena of global health. Ultimately, these experiences, fortified with immense technical knowledge of global health and advocacy and enriched with vital connections made in Geneva, will be indelibly etched in my mind. I sincerely hope that this program is continued and intensely desire that even more students may be supported in future. Kind regards Kapil Narain Kapiln.infinity@gmail.com
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‘I never imagined that someone from Nepal would ever be a part of that’
Anjila Thapa Medical Student, Nepal
My journey with the PreWHA and WHA started four months prior to the event, when I first stumbled upon the Change–Maker Scholarship call in an email. It might sound far–fetched, but there was just something about that email that caught my eye among the hundreds of neglected ones. Having worked in my National Medical Organization (NMO), Nepal Medical Students’ Society (NMSS) since my first year of medical school, we had heard that IFMSA has a delegation in the WHA, but none of us had ever imagined that someone from Nepal would ever be a part of it. With encouragement from my team, I embarked on a month long journey of research, looking up topics such as Sustainable Development Goals, and Universal Health Coverage to write an essay that would eventually end up granting me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Receiving the acceptance email is definitely up there on my list of “The best moments of my life” right next to being accepted into medical school and seeing my baby brother for the first time. After the initial excitement of being able to participate along with superficial matters such as exploring Geneva, I realised the brunt of the enormous responsibility that I had taken upon myself. I started feeling overwhelmed about the amount of research and reading I had to get done as well as by trying to contact my unresponsive Member State. I was anxious about how to approach these young individuals who’ve been involved in IFMSA at an international platform for many years. How do I present myself? How do I advocate for specific issues that might only exist in my country? I had to reassure myself of my capabilities and my passion towards advocating for pertinent issues. With this I set my mind on forging ahead and maintaining the enthusiasm. I decided to apply to be part of the Advocacy Working Group on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in UHC based on the safe abortion advocacy I’ve been doing at home. In Geneva, the journey started with the PreWHA, where there were various sessions on topics such as the basics of UHC, stakeholder mapping, and an introduction to health systems. These sessions were delivered by experts, whom I’d never imagine I’d ever meet at such a young age. Organizations like the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) and UNAIDS, specializing in my area of interest, provided resource people for our special Advocacy Working Group sessions. It was an energetic environment, with many passionate youths buzzing around and bouncing ideas and questions off each other. The workshop not only focused on
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specific topics, but included different simulations in the field of global health, one of which was a panel of discussion, where I got an opportunity to speak as a panelist, on the behalf of patient’s rights group. I learned the importance of stakeholder mapping, and how to categorize the stakeholders according to priority. The importance of meaningful youth participation was emphasized multiple times, and approached from different angles. The veil of tokenism, a term that I had never heard before, was lifted, and I felt as if true meaningful youth participation is very difficult to achieve, but not impossible. Though the PreWHA had prepared me to deal with specific topics and understand the jargon, I was nowhere near prepared for the environment that is the WHA. The rush, the side events, the plenaries and committee sessions, the beauty of it all was truly incredible. After getting lost multiple times, I finally started getting the hang of it all: Get to the sessions early, and get a good seat so that none of the important messages are missed. Attending sessions such as the role of community health workers in achieving primary health care, the importance of adolescent health in advancing SRHR, and the shrinking space for civil society in the field of SRHR made me realize the impact of important documents such as the Astana Declaration on primary health care or the Global Gag rule. Attending side events related to topics of my interest automatically taught me how to network, because I was bursting with excitement to talk to my heroes, people who were dedicating their entire life for SRHR advocacy and taking the responsibility to spread awareness about the various challenges and obstacles one might face while working in this field.
a lifetime opportunity. A girl from Nepal has been able to represent Nepali medical students and voice the basic problems that the Nepalese people face in their day to day life. She has been able to witness change being made at an international level and derived passion from those around her to dream of a day when these changes will be made in her country, and see herself being one of the harbingers of change. This opportunity has changed my life, it has made me realize that just talk will never suffice, it is much more important to “Walk the Talk.” Best wishes, Anjila Thapa anjanathapa1613@gmail.com
An extremely informative session I had participated in was the session titled, “Is Democracy good for Health?” where research on the above mentioned title was presented. It strengthened my resolve that health is a political issue and democracy is incredibly necessary for achieving UHC in the long run. There were times during the various side events and discussions when I’d become discouraged because there were so many aspects lacking in my country, and would probably require many more years to come into existence. Constant encouragement and the drive that the panelists and other youths showed during the sessions would ultimately help me conquer these fears, and come to the realization that it might take time for change to come, but it’s not impossible. This scholarship has provided me with a once in
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‘What I have learnt will empower me to continue my active work at the local, national and international level, serving my community and the people in need.’
Mohi Badr Public Medical Health Student, Student, Egypt Nepal
I was very glad and excited to have had the honor to be selected for IFMSA PreWHA and Change-Maker Scholarship, and to have the opportunity to be a part of the IFMSA delegation at the WHA. They were unique events and lifetime experience, which will undoubtedly be very beneficial to my career pathway. I think there is nothing else that would have helped me better in engaging in global health governance and diplomacy, and discovering how to turn ideas into policy action within the World Health Organization than attending the WHA. And there is nothing that would have helped me increase my knowledge and experience about urgent global health topics more than a seat at the PreWHA, so I am very thankful for IFMSA and Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research for giving me this opportunity. The PreWHA was a great chance for me to be engaged with a fantastic community of youth coming from a variety of different social, cultural and geographic backgrounds to discuss projects and ideas pertaining to global health issues through peer to peer interaction. I have learned a lot about two important pressing health issues which were UHC and meaningful youth participation (such as through Youth Delegate programs and youth participation in national health decision-making). I have learned how to advocate about these topics through having one-to-one meetings with Member States and presenting policy briefs on these topics. The 72nd WHA had ended with the adoption of several resolutions on the world’s most relevant public health issues. Over nine days, Member States adopted a new global strategy on health, environment and climate change and committed to invest in safe water, sanitation and hygiene services in health facilities. The countries adopted a landmark agreement to enhance the transparency of pricing for medicines, vaccines and other health products. The new WHO programme budget was approved and a common approach to antimicrobial resistance was agreed upon. Patient safety was recognized as a global health priority and the 11th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases was adopted. The countries adopted three resolutions on UHC with a focus on primary healthcare, the role of community health workers, and the High-Level Meeting on UHC in New York in September 2019. One highlight for me during the WHA was having the opportunity to meet with Dr. Mohammed Hassani Burberry Abdullah. Dr Abdul-
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lah is Fellow of Gastroenterology at the Egyptian National Institute of Endemic Diseases and Liver, the current assistant to the Minister of Health and Population for Health and Public Health Projects and Initiatives, and also one of the members of the Egyptian official delegation at WHA. We discussed the key points about UHC especially those related to IFMSA policy regarding this issue. He expressed his admiration and enthusiasm for it and promised to take it into consideration at the official level when returning to Egypt. He also informed me about WHO Egypt office and its support for the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population in strengthening health system in the pursuit of UHC. I have expanded my horizon by learning about the emerging field of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR). I have learned more about how societies organize themselves in achieving collective health goals, and how different actors interact in the policy and implementation processes to contribute to policy outcomes. I learnt about how a different fields such as economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, public health and epidemiology can come together to inform how health systems respond and adapt to health policies, and how health policies can shape − and be shaped by − health systems and the broader determinants of health. HPSR can also address any or several of the health systems building blocks and their ultimate objective to promote the coverage, quality, efficiency and equity of health systems.
nity and the people in need. I will apply what I have learned in my home country by spreading the knowledge and experience to other Egyptian Public Health workers and practitioners who couldn’t have the chance to attend in person in Geneva. I am now planning to organize some educational lectures about the most prominent outcomes of PreWHA and the WHA to shed light on and share with my colleagues at the National Health Institute and in Cairo Medical School. I think sharing and spreading the knowledge and experience will benefit them a lot and expand their horizon about different health global issues which will increase their efficiencies at their different working positions in the Egyptian health system. I consider this as a crucial step to achieve the desired improvement of the Egyptian healthcare system. Finally, I extend again, my sincere appreciations and thanks to all who helped me to get this chance. With my best wishes, Mohi Ahmed Reda Mohi Badr mohibadr7@gmail.com
The Change-Maker Scholarship Program meant a lot for me as it was the way that facilitated my participation in PreWHA and the WHA. This will impact my future career positively because attending these events provided me with a better understanding of global health governance and diplomacy, and urgent global health issues such as non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance and the need for UHC. It gave me the opportunity to put my advocacy and policy skills into practice with a number of interactive workshops and enabled me to practice a sense of community amongst youth coming from a variety of different social, cultural and geographic backgrounds, promoting joint advocacy and project ideas pertaining to global health issues at local, national and international. All I have learnt will be very beneficial to my public health career pathway and it also will empower me to continue my active work at the local, national and international level, serving my commu-
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