IFMSA LO WHO Plan of Action

7/31/2019 IFMSA LO WHO Plan of Action

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DG meets DGDr. Guinto meets the Director-GeneralCandidature for the position of

Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization

of the

International Federation of Medical Students Associations

2012-2013

by

Ramon Lorenzo Luis R. Guinto

Regional Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific, IFMSA

Former President, Asian Medical Students Association - Philippines


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Renzo in the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila, September 2011

Bridging the Leaders and Leaders-to-be

Greetings to my beloved IFMSA family!

I write to you today to present my candidature for the position of Liaison Officer to the World

Health Organization for the term 2012-2013.

I recently finished my Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines inManila. However, after a series of reflection and with the support of friends and colleagues, I

have decided not to retire immediately from IFMSA the Federation that I have served for the

past two years in various capacities, and the Federation that I still have faith on in greatly

transforming the state of worlds health for the better.


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My past year as Regional Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific has been a fruitful, productive, and

meaningful one. With the combined commitment of my Regional Team and the unwavering

support and participation of my NMOs, we together have created a region of medical students

that now thinks more beyond national borders, and that are inspired to participate more in

efforts to make the world healthier.

This time, as a final offering to IFMSA, I have decided to consider spending one more year in the

IFMSA Team of Officials but this time, as the Federations link to our oldest and biggest

partner in global health work the World Health Organization.

WHO is not foreign to me I first engaged with WHO when I was a member of the IFMSA

delegation to the 30th

anniversary conference of the Alma Ata Declaration in 2008 in Almaty,

Kazakhstan. Since then, I have been working with WHO on many different issues and projects

on adolescent health during a WHO meeting in Manila, also in 2008; on disaster management

and global health education for various regional projects in Asia-Pacific, some even before I got

elected Regional Coordinator; and most recently, on social determinants of health and health

equity, first as the facilitator of the Small Working Group on Health Inequity, and then as the

interim and founding coordinator of the IFMSA Global Health Equity Initiative. I also headed the

IFMSA delegation to the WHO Western Pacific Regional Committee Meeting last year.

These previous relationships with WHO are indeed great investments for the unfinished work of

IFMSAs Liaison Officer to the WHO.

You are assured that the same energy, passion, vision, and commitment that I gave to the Asia-

Pacific region, the IFMSA Global Health Equity Initiative, and other working groups and task

forces in the Federation, will also be devoted to the work for strengthening our partnership and

cultivating our relationship with WHO.

I also hope for your utmost support and cooperation, because I am merely a link, while you, our

members, are the real partners of WHO in making health for all a reality.

The Liaison Officer to the WHOs major role is to bridge together the global health leaders and

the leaders-to-be which is us.

Thank you for your time.

Health for all,

Renzo

Ramon Lorenzo Luis R. Guinto, MD


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Renzo as head of the IFMSA delegation to the World Conference on Social Determinants of

Health, held last October 19-21, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plan of Action

For theposition of Liaison Officer to the WHO

Organization

Arrange WHO-related resources and archives under LO management Explore possibilities of including additional volunteers to assist LO work especially on

certain areas

o Training and orientation for IFMSA delegationso Drafting statements and background papers for WHO eventso Drafting reports and publicity materials regarding IFMSAs work with WHO

Facilitate smooth handover of tasks and resources from previous LO (2011-2012) and tonext LO (2013-2014)


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Communication

Establish constant communication with key WHO contactso Director-Generals Officeo Departments with existing partnerships with IFMSAo Departments that are enthusiastic to partner with IFMSA

Effectively communicate messages, publications, and updates from WHO to memberso Through the online serverso Regularly forward the Bulletin of the WHO and other WHO publicationso Increase WHO presence in IFMSA social media (WHO videos, pertinent websites,

news updates from WHO, etc.)

Be constantly available (especially online) to answer WHO-related queries from IFMSAmembers

Coordination

Ensure effective coordination of IFMSA delegations to WHO conferences and meetingso Send advanced calls for IFMSA delegations to all serverso Ensure high-quality delegations while keeping in mind regional representation,

experience, and transparency in selection

o Provide logistical assistance to delegations (in coordination with NMOs withWHO offices)

o Provide timely and comprehensive training and orientation about WHO affairs toall IFMSA delegations

o Work closely with delegations in drafting statements and devising advocacystrategy for WHO events

o Devise ways to ensure that conference outputs trickle down to NMOs andconcerned standing committees and initiatives

o Ensure smooth reporting by delegations about WHO eventsUpcoming WHO events

o World Health Assembly in May 2013

o Regional Committee Meetings from September-October 2013

o Executive Board Meeting in January 2013

o Other WHO-organized conferences (ex. 8th

Global Conference on Health Promotion

in June 2013, Helsinki)


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Renzo with Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, with Maria

Kusuma Tatang (CIMSA-ISMKI-Indonesia) and Kai Yuan Cheng (FMS-Taiwan), IFMSA delegatesto the WHO Western Pacific Regional Committee Meeting held last October 10-14, 2011 in

Manila, Philippines

Facilitate smooth conduct of IFMSA internship programs in WHOo Ensure high-quality interns in existing IFMSA programs while keeping in mind

regional representation, interest and experience, and transparency in selection

o Provide interns with pre-internship orientation about WHOo Initiate discussions regarding IFMSA support for interns from developing

countries to ensure equity in access to WHO internships

o Explore new internship programs in WHO Geneva Headquarters Social Determinants of Health Human Resources for Health

o Explore possibilities for IFMSA internship programs in WHO Regional Offices (ex.Negotiations have already started for the Western Pacific Regional Office)


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Harmonization and Team Work

Closely coordinate with the Executive Board to ensure coherence between the LOswork and overall IFMSA work

Consult with other members of the Team of Officials regarding potential linkagesbetween WHO thrusts and IFMSA priorities

Harmonize WHO relations with ongoing activities and programs in various IFMSAstanding committees and initiative projects

Provide support to the Executive Board and Team of Officials on other IFMSA mattersbeyond the LOs scope of work

ForIFMSA and its relationship with the WHO

Stronger Partnerships

Strengthen existing partnerships between IFMSA and WHOo Social Determinants of Healtho Global Health Workforce Allianceo Partnership for Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Healtho Public Health and Environment (Climate Change and post-Rio+20 efforts)o Communications

New Relationships

Explore new areas of cooperation in tandem with existing IFMSA projects and activitieso Health Systems Strengtheningo Non-communicable Diseaseso

Mental Health

o Other areas (which will be based from the results of the consultation withIFMSA)

Policy Engagement with WHO

Explore ways on how IFMSA can communicate its stand on various health issues to WHO(ex. Using policy statements)

To ensure youth representation in global health policy making, actively lobby WHO toinclude IFMSA in commissions and technical working groups that WHO will create in the

future

Explore possibility for a Model World Health Assembly in partnership with the WHOwhich may be held before the WHA in Geneva


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Renzo with Dr. Rodel Nodora of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and the

participants of Think Global Asia-Pacific Workshop on Global Health in Medical Education, held

in Manila last December 19-21, 2011

WHOs participation in IFMSA activities

In coordination with MM2013 and AM2013 hosts, invite resource persons from WHO(ex. For MM2013, invite speakers from the Pan-American Health Organization in

Washington, DC)

In coordination with Regional Coordinators, invite resource persons from WHO toRegional Meetings

Support standing committees, initiatives, and other groups within IFMSA that wish toinvite WHO resource persons to their activities (Ex. Summer schools, training

workshops, etc.)


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Renzo with the WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, UNICEF Executive Director Ms. Ann

Veneman, and the IFMSA delegation to the 30th

Anniversary Conference of the Alma Ata

Declaration, October 2008, Almaty, Kazakhstan

For the NMOs

In addition to the aforementioned goals and strategies:

Consult NMOs regarding key priorities linking IFMSAs activities and WHOs thrusts(Consultation to happen in October 2012 as soon as term starts)

Provide technical guidance regarding NMO collaboration with WHO Country Offices In cooperation with the Regional Coordinators, explore collaboration with WHO

Regional Offices

o Projects and programso Internship and volunteer activitieso WHO presence in Regional Meetings


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Ramon Lorenzo Luis R. Guinto

Ramon Lorenzo Luis Rosa Guinto or Renzo obtained his Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science in

Basic Medical Science cum laude at the University of the Philippines Manila under the Integrated Liberal

Arts and Medicine (INTARMED) Program, a unique accelerated seven-year medical course offered to the

top 40 of the 70,000 high school students applying for admission to UP every year. He also finished his

internship at the Philippine General Hospital, the national tertiary hospital of the Philippines.

A staunch health and environment advocate, Renzo founded UP One Earth, the only student

environmental organization of health sciences students in UP Manila which seeks to lead in education,research, advocacy, and service on matters relating to health and the environment. In 2007, Renzo was

named Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Award in Germany, and in 2010, a United States

Department of State scholar in global environment, through which he was able to study at the East-

West Center in Hawaii and in Washington, DC.


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Renzo served as Vice Chairperson (2008-2009), and eventually Chairperson (2009-2010) of the

University Student Council of UP Manila. His term as top leader of the university is a period of

heightened student participation in university governance, health and environmental action, community

engagement, disaster response, and even the 2010 Philippine national elections.

During the period 2010-2011, he was also president of the Asian Medical Students Association (AMSA)-

Philippines, a national association of socio-civic organizations of medical students in the Philippines, and

concurrently Philippine Representative to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations

(IFMSA), the largest student federation in the world recognized by the United Nations and the World

Health Organization as the official international voice of medical students.

Last October 2011, he began his term as IFMSA Regional Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific, working with

16 member countries and aiming to recruit more to the Federation. Currently, he is also the facilitator ofIFMSAs Small Working Group on Health Inequities and founding coordinator of the IFMSA Global Health

Equity Initiative, two bodies that championed the participation of medical students in the global

movement for health equity and action on social determinants of health.

This year 2012, Renzo was invited to become one of the 16 youth commissioners of the Commission on

Global Governance for Health, which is a two-year project of the Lancet, University of Oslo, and Harvard

Global Health Institute. Over the next two years, the Commission will examine aspects of governance, at

both national and global levels, within the health sector and in other sectors that impact health. He is

also currently involved in the Universal Health Care Study Group of the National Institutes of Health at

the University of the Philippines Manila.

Renzo received numerous awards and recognitions both in the Philippines and abroad, including the

Climate Hero Award from UN disaster risk reduction champion and Philippine Senator Loren Legarda in

2010; Outstanding Student Award from the UP Manila in 2009; Honorable Mention in the 2008

International Essay Competition for Young People sponsored by UNESCO; Ayala Young Leader in 2008;

and one of the Ten Outstanding Youth of the Province of Laguna in 2005.

In 2009, Renzo represented the Philippines in the International Public Speaking Competition of the

English-Speaking Union in London. He also represented young people in various WHO conferences,

including the 2008 International Conference on Primary Health Care in Almaty, Kazakhstan organized by

WHO and United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), and the 2011 World Conference on Social

Determinants of Health in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil organized by WHO and the Government of Brazil.


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A consistent academic achiever, Renzo was a recipient of the UP Oblation Scholarship, given to top 50

passers of the UP College Admission Test, and the UP Presidential Scholarship. From the UP College of

Medicine he received the annual Gawad ng Dekano (Deans Award) for leadership seven times (2005-

2012), and from 2005-2007 was also named University Scholar for academic achievement. In 2012, onhis graduation, he was also bestowed the Colleges E. S. Garcia Leadership Award.

In 2005, Renzo graduated valedictorian with high honors from the University of the Philippines Rural

High School, garnering the highest academic average in the schools 80-year history. He also finished

grade school in Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba as valedictorian.

Since 2005, Renzo has written more than 30 articles for local and international publications and has

been a resource speaker and workshop facilitator on a wide range of topics such as youth leadership,

environment, health, public policy, and student rights in the Philippines and abroad. He also received

training through courses and conferences on various areas such global health, disaster management,

sustainable development, youth empowerment, social entrepreneurship, globalization, and journalism.

Recently, he attended a summer school in global health challenges at the University of Copenhagen

School of Global Health, as well as the International Peoples Health University organized by the Peoples

Health Movement and hosted by the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa.

Coming from a musical family, Renzo used to sing for the UP Medicine Choir and the praise and worshipteam of Rivers Edge Ministries. He has also directed plays and musicals in school and organized public

events and youth conferences.

Finally, Renzo loves travelling with a purpose, having visited 16 countries (most of which is work-related)

in his four years as a medical student. Moreover, he is now struggling to read his rapidly growing

collection of books, spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, reflecting his

eclectic taste and unquenchable thirst for knowledge and wisdom.


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Asian Medical Students Association Philippines

Founding Member of the Asian Medical Students Association International

and the Philippine National Member Organization

of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations

Documents

IFMSA LO WHO Plan of Action