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Human Rights
“It is my aspiration that health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for; but as a human right to be fought for”.
Kofi Annan
Public health focuses on the community and its people. The CFMS facilitates the development and continued improvement of grassroots initiatives.
Health is certainly widely recognized as a human right, but does the protection or violations of other human rights impact health? Health and human rights are in fact inescapably intertwined. Violations or neglect to human rights can have serious health consequences as you see in violence against women and children. The development of health programs and policies can serve to either promote or violate human rights. Protection of human rights can help protect vulnerable populations from devastating health problems (i.e. fair-trade, access to medicines)
Projects:
Fair-trade Coffee Workshop
Fair-trade is an important method of empowering communities rather than creating dependence on charity. Most medical students drink coffee (or at least tea which is also available as fair-trade), so we thought this would be an appropriate topic to address fair-trade. The CFMS has created a presentation of fair-trade coffee based on the Oxfam Coffee Kit. This presentation can be presented to classmates or public audiences to increase awareness. Also, if you visit your local fair-trade coffee shop you should be able to get some coffee for the presentation.
Sudan
Medical students from across the country signed a petition in the Fall 04 requesting parliament to:
International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Much of the world’s suffering has in some way been related to a lack of tolerance or lack of understanding. Humankind has advanced in so many ways, even in our setting of the medical world, we can treat almost any disease, yet we still have not perfected the art of how to treat each other-with kindness and respect and appreciation. We all have been affected by discrimination- whether we are viewed a certain way because we are female, or HIV +ve or whether we have ourselves made unfair judgments based on stereotypes or preconceived biases. March 21 st (International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) is the perfect opportunity to give attention to the important practice of tolerance and understanding.
Here are some ideas to get the creative juices flowing
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