Editorial

Pushpa Hossain

EMR DA for publications

2012-2013

Dear EMRians and IFMSA family all over the world,

It's with great pleasure that I present you this edition of our

beloved EMR Newsletter.

In this edition, we're trying to give you an in-depth insight

of our region. As you read through our pages, you will no-

tice that there is something for everyone to enjoy.

This is indeed an exciting period in our region; what with

the Arab spring in full blossom and us EMRians nearing

our 10th anniversary...

The whole region is full of anticipation and buzzing with

excitement and motivation to take a step forward in each

and every aspect of our work.

I'd like to thank our regional team for their help and

support in producing this edition of the newsletter.

Special thanks goes to our amazing RC Ms. Mona

Faramawy for her constant encouragement and support.

I hope you have fun reading this edition as much as we

had producing it.

Enjoy!

Pushpa Hossain

Editor In Chief & Designer

January 2013

Page | 3

Welcome Message

Dear EMR Family,

A new edition of our Regional newsletter, a new regional meeting to

be experienced and rocked by EMRians and new great achieve-

ments of you to be shared and published.

With the 4th edition of EMR Newsletter, our region proves once

more the great potentials, excitement and commitment our mem-

bers have toward IFMSA and toward the Eastern Mediterranean

Region. Receiving such marvelous projects, articles and updates

from you was a great responsibility for us to make sure that your

work will reach other medical students all over the world within

IFMSA and here we are delivering the voice of EMR to the whole

IFMSA Family through this edition.

This year EMRians are gathering again in the Sunny Tunisia to

share ideas, exchange experiences and to meet once more within

the warm environment of EMR9. Our theme event for this year is

''Emergency Medicine'' and EMRians will be experiencing a new taste Emergency Medicine

through very interactive hands-on workshops and seminars.

Also, EMRians will be on time this year with two new events taking place for the first time in our

Regional Meetings; “The Global Health Debate”, during which our members will be debating this

year about "Public vs. Private Healthcare".

The purpose of this event is to encourage active participation and global thinking within EMRians,

thus, aiming to empower the debating skills and expanding the knowledge about Global Health

issues in our members. The other event, "EMRx", will be another new idea to be implemented, it'll

be aiming to encourage Members in the region to express their passions and believes and to in-

spire their friends and colleagues with ideas that are worth spreading.

Next year our region will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the EMR Regional Meetings;

which will be very special for us to see in our region. It feels just like yesterday that our region

started to have an annual gathering; we managed to grow fast and efficiently map the region

within IFMSA. So, I highly encourage you all to start preparing from now for this very special

event. Let's make it a new milestone for EMR to be remembered many years ahead.

Finally, I want to thank our awesome EMR Publications Developmental Assistant, Ms.Pushpa

Hossain for getting the fourth edition of EMR newsletter in such elegant and friendly edition.

Also, I'd like to thank the whole EMR team for working very hard this term; starting from ensuring

highly professional sessions during EMR moving on to develop EMR Database and enhancing

each opportunity to develop the region. Big thanks to the whole EMR Regional Team and a very

special thanks to all IFMSA Officials who truly supported us this term.

And I can't conclude without expressing my sincere thanks and appreciation to Associa-Med and

EMR9 OC for hosting EMR9 that will definitely exceed your expectations.

See you all very soon in the green lands of Tunisia,

Mona M. Faramawy

EMR RC 2012-2013

Page | 4

As we all know that SCOPH

represents the community ser-

vice arm of IFMSA; especially in

our region that suffers from poor

health education and bad tradi-

tional lifestyles .Thus, obligating

us SCOPHians to meet great

challenges to eradicate public

health dangers in our countries.

New policy will be followed this

term to enhance transnational

cooperation between EMR

NMOs. This is in order to magni-

fy our impact on the problems that threat our

communities. This will be done through peri-

odic gatherings, cooperation, & transnational

projects.

Projects Creating new projects which will unite all EMR NMOs to work against the common public health problems. This will be done after setting discussion meetings that will save our efforts & increase cooperation between us. Examples for these projects are: SCOPH Ex-change- Renal failure- Diabetes – Hepatitis. Also, it will depend on periodic surveys that

will be sent to define EMR needs.

Communication Connecting the EMR NPOs & regional coordi-nators through online meetings, surveys & mailing lists will provide sustainable commu-nication for a clearer vision & work implemen-tation.

Cooperation Through working on similar projects & having the same work identity that will give marvel-ous sense for EMR SCOPH work. That can b e c a r r i e d o u t t h r o u g h : having SCOPH drop box that will be used for public health materials, resources, & designs sharing - SCOPH EMR online meetings - SCOPH EMR session - Periodic surveys -

Regional projects & initiatives.

Cooperation Through working on similar projects & having the same work identity that will give marvel-ous sense for EMR SCOPH work. That can b e c a r r i e d o u t t h r o u g h : having SCOPH drop box that will be used for public health materials, resources, & designs sharing - SCOPH EMR online meetings - SCOPH EMR session - Periodic surveys - Regional projects & initiatives.

Meetings Are very important ways of communication. It should be useful as well to ensure full of co-operation, exchange of skills, knowledge, & attitudes, thus, gaining a lot of precious re-sults that can push SCOPH work forward in EMR NMOs.

Reporting & follow-up Working as NPO makes me have good expe-rience on reporting methods, so, I can provide periodic reports about EMR SCOPH activities & follow-up techniques. This will help in sus-taining a regular feedback system which will help us to modify any defects and that will grantee perfect & effective work.

All of the previously mentioned methods will increase & support our cooperation and lead

the way towards an ef-fective region in public health.

We started our work by SCORP EMR survey. It was needed because at first we needed to know about SCORP prob-lems and needs in our region, also what SCORPions consider as hot topics in EMR and their expectation from the SCORP RAs. A Google survey was made, 11 persons (NORPs and LORPs) par-ticipated in this survey. You can find results below.

EMR SCOPH:

New Start & New Challenges

Fekry El Bagory

SCOPH RA

EMR SCORP:

Survey

Melika Hanifiha, Sana Saboui

Co-SCORP RA

Page | 5

SCORP EMR needs:

Financial support and sources of sustainable

funding

Intensive training and experience support

Some prepared seminars and introductions

to human rights and related issue

A data base, that any NORP or LORP can

get back to, that has documents, movie files

and any related materials that can be used in

sessions and trainings

Helping refugees in three parts of my coun-

try, from three neighbor countries, be benefi-

ciary of our SCORP activities

Making the whole community aware of Hu-

man rights and their right to health

Increasing awareness about projects‟ plan-

ning and importance of projects‟ sustainability

SCORP EMR problems:

Lack of organized management strategy

Getting people to be involved

Making sure that the experience from older

students and the ones that have been in-

volved before passed on to the new ones.

Finance and fundraising for projects

Lack of experience and training

Mostly, many of issues of SCORP need to be

carefully discussed before applied due to po-

litical situation

EMR hot topics

Stigma against mentally ill patients

Patient's rights violations by students and

health care workers

Child abuse

Syrian Crisis

Refugees

Human rights

Elderly people rights

People with special needs

Natural disasters

Effect of wars

What EMRians expect SCORP RAs?

To stimulate cooperation between EMR

NMOs to know all the SCORP projects. Good

organization of SCORP EMR.

Having a report of all the SCORP session

Organizing simple actions like sending pho-

tos, videos, or reports on different topics or

holding some competitions. On one hand, to

be activist; and on the other hand, to know

each other as EMR SCORPions

An active mailing list

Getting more training, Get more knowledge

about SCORP in the world

Trainings on how to run new ideas in our so-

ciety

Getting assistance in transnational projects

and make national projects transnational

ones

Tackling more of the humanitarian aspects in

our community, such as child abuse, children

with disabilities, human rights for shelter and

food , etc.

By this information we understand what our

priorities in SCORP EMR are, what we should

put in SCORP agenda for EMR9 and how we

should support SCORP EMR. All participants

agreed to have project database. The NORPs

agreed to send every three months a report

and all participants were ready to rock

SCORP EMR this term.

Page | 6

Unlike the other Standing Committees, SCOPE does not have much to do with research, projects, public health, awareness cam-paigns, and such, locally or internationally. Instead, its main objective is "to pro-mote the cultural under-

standing and the cooperation among medical students and other health professionals,

through international exchanges.” In addition, SCOPE provides a means by which the “doctors of the future” can experience medi-cine in another culture and thus become more sensitive to the differences that exist in health systems around the globe. This educational and cultural experience is organized entirely by medical students, for medical students.

The EMR is a crescent-shaped region that borders the Mediterranean Sea and ex-tends from Iran in the East to Morocco in the West, and includes various countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Tunisia among others. Incidentally, unlike other re-gions of the world, only the EMR is consid-ered to have witnessed the birth of modern civilization. In fact, a quick search would yield results that all point to the Middle East as be-ing the “cradle of civilization,” having encom-passed ancient regions such as Mesopota-mia, the Levant, Canaan, the Persian Plat-eau, and Egypt. It is also where Christianity and Islam, today‟s two major religions, were born.

It can thus be said that the EMR in an-cient times was the epicenter of an earth-quake that shook the world, dispersing its knowledge and richness, and sending its in-habitants to different countries to exchange ideas, values, and ways of life.

Had IFMSA existed then, I think that SCOPE would have been by far the busiest and most successful Standing Committee, hands-down. It seems that SCOPE and the

EMR were made for one another from the be-ginning. Even today, SCOPE is the main – if not the only – organization that provides med-ical students of the region with exchange op-portunities. Unfortunately, it looks like some-where along the way, we EMRians have ne-glected this point.

Today, the EMR faces a big challenge when it comes to incoming students. Regional instability as well as segregation and negative publicity have seriously damaged these stu-dents‟ view of us, hindering these foreigners from seeing the hidden beauties of our re-gion. These issues also prevent them from realizing the flagrant exaggeration of the me-dia.

And so, we delve into a vicious cycle that will keep on hurting us as long as we do not take action.

When I presented my candidature for the position of SCOPE RA for the EMR, I was very well aware of the aforementioned facts. In my letter of motivation, I included possible solutions to these problems – most of which were presented and initiated by the previous RAs – which I would like to reiterate here, hoping it reaches a bigger audience.

First and foremost, the EMR needs to become a unified region, where NMOs with well-established exchange programs give their support to the newly established NMOs in SCOPE, such as Morocco and Libya. This reinforces the exchange programs of both NMOs and expands their exchange opportu-nities by making them more attractive to in-coming students. It is as they say: “One hand washes the other.” Once the EMR appears as a unified region, it will automatically draw in more exchanges and make the NEOs sign more contracts.

Equally important is a proper and effi-cient Marketing Strategy for SCOPE in the EMR. While my predecessors have launched such a strategy, much extensive work still needs to be done so that we will be able to increase the region‟s positive publicity. Part of this marketing strategy is developing a joint EMR Video in which our exchanges, clerk-ships, and our rich and diverse culture are promoted. With the help of this term‟s

EMR SCOPE:

Back to the Roots

Carl Joe

SCOPE RA

Page | 7

wonderful team, I hope that significant pro-gress will be made in this area, especially during the Regional Meeting where we will all be working together for a common goal: ad-vancing our beloved region.

Thirdly, as EMR RA, I will provide as-sistance to the international community should any turmoil arise. The media transmits a lot of false news, leading many western NE-Os to worry about sending their students to specific regions. This assistance can be in the form of providing up-to-date information about the safety of visiting these countries whenev-er a “crisis” is publicized.

It thus goes without saying that for any project to be successful, good communica-tion, coordination and understanding, within a healthy collaborative teamwork atmosphere, are a must. Bill Clinton perfectly exemplifies this point with a quote that fits with the whole SCOPE message: “We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more.”

In conclusion, I think it is safe to say that none of this can be possible without the help of each and every willing EMRian: from the exchange student, to the NEO, to the RA. This is no easy task with many problems cer-tainly arising along the way, and some even already waiting for us.

One of the biggest challenges we are facing now – SCOPE in general, and the EMR in particular – is that of the New Database. Many NEOs are apprehensive about this change and are more comfortable using the Old Database, fearing errors and problems – and rightfully so. However, this change is good. The New Database presents a major milestone and a new beginning for SCOPE, and we EMRians could definitely use a new beginning after all the problems that we have experienced in the not-so-distant-past. So why not work together on making this data-base, our medium of exchange, successful? After all, we are the ones who started the “exchanges” 5,000 years ago, right?

So, I ask of you readers to join me in bringing back the EMR to its former glory, and through SCOPE, disseminate that to the rest of the world.

It‟s a great pleasure for me to be part of the EMR team for this season. Our region has gone through many remarkable ad-vances recently, and I am ex-tremely proud to share some of that with you here. But before I go on to talk about SCORE and exchanges in the EMR, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Maysah Al-Mulla, a 5

th

year medical student at RCSI, and the current NORE in IFMSA-Bahrain and SCORE RA in the EMR. Now enough about me, let‟s talk about our amazing region and my amazing SCOREans. Tunisia our EMR10 host has impressed me with their very organized and efficient work, not only in organizing our regional meeting, but also by having many SCORE related suc-cessful events in the past season. They man-aged to have 2 active local committees and integrated them very well into the IFMSA life. LC Sfax managed to get 8 projects and both LCs created their own local charters for man-aging the distributions of the contracts they had in a fair way based on different precise criteria for outgoings. For the upcoming sea-son, SCORE Tunisia planning a special SCORE project that will be happening for the first time both nationally and regionally (the first EMR NMO that will be doing it) which is the very famous SCORE-PET (SCORE Pre-Exchange Training). Another NMO that I would like to point at their very productive work is IFMSA-Egypt, who will be hosting an SRT in the coming April/May months. SCORE Oman has also caught my attention with their 5

th edition of the “best research idea competi-

tion”, which has inspired many other NMOs to follow their lead. IFMSA-Bahrain, my home-land, has also managed to get on the EMR SCORE train and keep up with the race by having 2 of the SCORE RAs in a row from Bahrain, and by putting up a great effort in launching SCORE and SCOPE exchanges in another medical university (RCSI), hosting 4 exchange students for the first time last sum-mer. All the EMR NMOs have made me very proud and happy to be part of this incredibly talented family.

Maysah Al-Mulla

SCORE RA

EMR SCORE

Page | 8

At the beginning of your

road as medical student,

you might have believed

that you‟re on a straight way

to heaven; however, it feels

more of a rollercoaster. You

have ups and downs while

going to classes, studying

tons of books and passing

exams till you finally become

a doctor. In The Eastern

Mediterranean Region medical students are

facing a lot of challenges they have to cope

with!!

Medical education has rules; there are rules

about admission, curriculum, courses, elec-

tives, assessment, attendance, quality etc.

And everyone knows the rules of his school.

Has anyone thought about who put those

rules?! Whether they are correct and fair or

not?! Students are the main customers of the

medical education system and they should be

involved in these rules, they have the right to

draw their road to the future.

EMR SCOMEdians are playing an active part

to help their classmates to deal with studying

challenges; by analyzing the current situation

and setting plans to meet their needs and sat-

isfy their requirements as future doctors. They

do not only work on courses and trainings to

enforce students but also work hard to make

their options after graduation more obvious,

and their choice to be easier.

SCOME is the students‟ voice; working on

policy statements towards governments, ac-

creditation bodies, qual­ity assurance bodies,

national and international institutions and or-

ganizations and so on to deliver students‟

needs.

Being a medical student is a great challenge;

and we must believe that we can all contrib-

ute and improve not only the outcomes, but

also the pathway to the outcomes. Thus,

making our journey all the more enjoyable

and efficient.

SCOMEdians all over the world are energetic

and creative. But also all medi­cal students

are. We‟re all different and have dif-ferent in-

terests, but in the end we all deserve the best

medical education and we‟re working on mak-

ing it happen.

Finally, if you need any help with SCOME

work in your NMO or need any resources; I‟ll

be glad to offer help. Just send me an Email

and we can have a meeting; I‟m always avail-

able.

In AM12 in Mumbai, India, I had the honor of facilitating the SCORA EMR sessions and got to see firsthand how much SCORA has grown since my first EMR sessions in AM11 in Copenhagen, Den-mark just one year ago. And this year we have no thoughts of slowing down.

This year saw multiple amazing feats in SCORA EMR. IFMSA-Egypt won second place in Project Presentations for the Rex Crossley Awards for their awe inspiring Fe-male Genital Mutilation Peer Education Pro-ject.

IFMSA Tunisia and IFMSA Iran both won the Best Project award in the SCORA Project Fair for campaign against women‟s violence and HIV picture book projects respectively.

Plus, SCORA EMR has joined many of the SCORA Transnational Projects including SHAPE, IlluminAIDS, and SCORA Exchange to name a few.

EMR SCOME

Mohamed Meshref

SCOME RA

EMR SCORA

Joe Cherabie

SCORA RA

Page | 9

Our presence is becoming more and more known within SCORA International, and this is a great thing from a place once considered one of the smallest regions represented in SCORA. But there is much more work to do.

As you know, SCORA‟s work I feel is one of the most important in the EMR due to the vast lack of knowledge concern-ing issues related to repro-ductive health and HIV/AIDS. And this lack of knowledge is leading to a rise in HIV/AIDS within our region. In fact, the MENA region has seen an in-crease in newly diagnosed cases of HIV of 35% over the last ten years whereas every other region in the world has seen a drop in the number of new HIV cases, including Africa. This only serves to high-light the importance of work in the EMR, through Peer Education and our World AIDS Day cam-paigns.

And this year, I‟m happy to report that there were many fantastic World AIDS Day cam-paigns that took place throughout the EMR, with the major issue covered being to fight discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS which is especially prominent in the EMR.

IFMSA-Egypt held their World AIDS Day campaign in not 1, not 2, but 18 universities throughout Egypt, promoting HIV awareness via mainly informational pamphlets and even holding a short film competition for people to submit videos concerning discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.

In LeMSIC Lebanon, the campaign was en-titled “Be Positive about HIV”, with the hopes of decreasing the negative connotation and discrimination against PLWHA. Also, we held our annual World AIDS Day Fundraising con-cert featuring Tania Saleh, which raised over $8000 for LeMSIC SCORA‟s CD4 Count fund which goes to pay for CD4 counts for patients in various hospitals and centers throughout seeing as CD4 counts are not covered by in-surance companies in Lebanon.

Furthermore, we held a condom distribution through the major pubbing districts in Beirut as well as a Free Hug campaign, decreasing discrimination and giving mini-Peer Ed ses-sion about safe sex practices and HIV trans-mission.

Associa-Med Tunisia also created an amaz-ing campaign entitled “Fight HIV and AIDS, not those liv-ing with it”. They promoted an anti-discrimination campaign throughout Tunisia, setting up stands and giving talks about HIV facts. They also had an amazing Facebook and Online campaign, posting pic-tures and awareness cam-paigns fighting discrimination of PLWHA.

Algeria Le Souks created a video which they posted on Youtube which received hun-dreds of views, also fighting discrimination against PLWHA.

And finally, IFMSA-Iran held an HIV Nation-al Week, taking place in three cities in Iran, where workshops were held in parks, train stations, maternal houses, and universities, and articles were published in various maga-zines and journals.

All in all, SCORA EMR is moving to make a difference within the EMR region with respect to the lives of PLWHA. Each and everyone of our members sought to find the biggest prob-lem within our region and decided to fight it, despite the societal pressures present within our region. Not only that, our peer education programs are thriving with many participants from the EMR taking part in the IFMSA Inter-national Peer Education Training, and not on-ly that, for the first time ever, we will have an EMR Peer Education Training within EMR9 in Tunisia!!

SCORA EMR is thriving and it is my hope to continue in this trend! With hard work and dedication, as well as constant contact be-tween the NORA‟s and their RA, we can truly strive to make this year special and move SCORA EMR forward to become stronger and more…SCORAlicious! :-P

“SCORA EMR is moving to

make a difference within the

EMR region with respect to

the lives of PLWHA!

Each and everyone of our

members sought to find the

biggest problem within our

region and decided to fight

it, despite the societal

pressures present within

our region. ”

Page | 10

“Why didn‟t

you kick her

out yet? Why

are you still

here woman!

Get your kid

and husband

and off to your

home!” the

man screamed

while she sat

cross-legged near the foot of her bed, oblivi-

ous to the moans and cries of her mother.

She was in a different world; one where her

hair grew long and blazed golden under the

sun, one where she was standing in a white

coat over a child whispering gentle words,

and one where the man would disappear and

be replaced by a field of flowers.

This young girl was Razan, an 11 year old girl

inflicted with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

(ALL) at a hospital in Jordan. Razan was ad-

mitted to the hospital months ago, and her

treatment fees were paid for by a boon; be-

fore the boon got discontinued and the hospi-

tal‟s manager who is a doctor “by profession”

raged on them day and night asking them to

leave in the worst manner possible.

This story is just one of the tens of stories

happening in Jordan on a daily basis. Sadly

this example is a portrayal of a phenomenon

currently on the rise. Doctors and other medi-

cal professionals are dealing with patients as

materialistic objects disregarding all humane

forms of treatment. The hospital manager in

the previous situation isn‟t expected to keep

the patient in but is expected to be able to

break the bad piece of news in a professional

manner.

The major problem to address however is not

in the doctors of today but in the doctors of

the future. Students in medical facilities often

look to their supervising doctors as their men-

tors and seek to follow in their footsteps, so

shutting our eyes blind to this problem is go-

ing to cause a crisis in years to come.

This fueled a team of enthusiastic IFMSAians

at Jordan University of Science and Technol-

ogy to start working on a project which they

titled „Human Doctor‟ with the aim of restoring

the values that were lost over the years

among medical professionals.

The project in brief

The project will concentrate on three major

disciplines which are very poorly developed in

our lives at university. The three major disci-

plines are communication skills, breaking bad

news, and medical ethics. The project will aim

to focus on important issues in these three

disciplines delivering the message in the form

of interactive workshops or a symposium on

the topic to be carried out in 2013.

Maintaining Objectivity

The three disciplines are very broad topics.

To make sure the focus will be on the im-

portant issues, input is to be collected from

health professionals, from patients and from

students to set the material for the work-

shops.

The workshops are going to incorporate ex-

perienced medical professionals in the topics

as well as patients sharing their stories and

experiences.

A brilliant future

In conclusion, the project is still in its early

stages of planning but the team hopes that

one day they will see the fruits of their project

in the doctors of tomorrow, and as one wise

man once said: “A tongue has no bones, but

is strong enough to break a heart”.

The Human Doctor

Zaid H. Imam

IFMSA-Jo

EMR SCORP:

Survey

Page | 11

"What's positive about HIV?” one might ask. Well,

the lovely members of LeMSIC SCORA and eve-

ryone who participated in its annual World AIDS

Day Campaign of 2012 were definitely personify-

ing the positivity that all of SCORA universally

aims for. A positive attitude, positive support, posi-

tive smile, positive hope - This is the "Positive

About HIV" that was relentlessly asked about

throughout the past month.

In Leba-

non, World

Aids Day

2012 was

definitely a

huge step

forward for a

s o c i e t y

which often views people living with HIV/AIDS in a

negative light and was instead asked to be a little

more positive in their attitudes towards PLWHA.

LeMSIC- SCORA organized a two-week cam-

paign as a fundraiser, gathering money so that

those living with HIV can perform the test for their

CD4 counts- a costly test that is not covered for

neither by the Lebanese government nor by insur-

ance companies. The campaign started on the

first of December and ended on the 15th with a

concert featuring Tania Saleh - the genuinely

SCORA-hearted, exquisitely talented, Lebanese

singer!

For December 1st, the true World AIDS Day, we

in LeMSIC SCORA set up stands in various din-

ers throughout Beirut where we spread aware-

ness and information about HIV in Lebanon and

centers where one can get tested freely and

anonymously for HIV. We also sold tickets for the

concert, T-shirts with this year‟s slogan printed on

it and spoke to people promoting our campaign

and the importance of not discriminating against

people living with HIV/AIDS. On that same week-

end, we held a condom distribution throughout 2

of the major pubbing districts in Beirut. Pubs,

clubs and all of Beirut‟s nightlife was jamming with

LeMSIC SCORA‟s enthusiasm for HIV awareness

with all of its members running throughout the

streets of Beirut spreading awareness, giving mini

-Peer Ed sessions, and distributing free hugs as

well as over 4000 condoms, spreading the word

about the importance of using sexual protection

and the qualities of a good condom .

The following two weeks were even crazier! We

had media coverage with interviews on various

national TV stations, radio interviews and promo-

tions, magazine articles, blogs, Facebook events,

and stands on almost all medical campuses

throughout Lebanon! All of LeMSIC SCORA‟s

members were thrilled and pushed really hard to

make this campaign successful, whether it be by

giving 50 free hugs in an hour or taking a moment

to speak to a student about the facts of HIV trans-

mission. We held bake sales, photo-shoots with a

giant +ve sign, guitar playing, dancing, and some

diving free hugs (no one was harmed of course),

all in order to get people to think more positively

about HIV.

Finally, the Big Day that everyone had been im-

patiently waiting for arrived! The annual World

AIDS Day Concert featuring Lebanese Under-

ground Superstar Tania Saleh!! And as everyone

expected, the TANIA ROCKED THE HOUSE!!

She sang her heart out for our cause and made

sure everyone was on their feet dancing and hav-

ing a great time. It was simply unforgettable and a

perfect ending to all the hard work and dedication

that had occurred in the weeks before.

Simply said, the campaign was a success which

left people thinking a little more positively about

HIV. People to this date are still talking about the

concert and the campaign with big smiles on their

faces and it is our hope in LeMSIC SCORA that

this positivity spreads to those affected by HIV/

AIDS, for they more than anyone can use a little

more positivity in their lives! So Be Positive about

HIV, and let‟s fight to make a difference.

Be Positive about HIV!

Human beings are members of a whole,

In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

If you've no sympathy for human pain,

The name of human you cannot retain!

Saadi Shirazi,

Iranian Poet

(1184/1283)

Page | 12

Where hope dies,

compassion prevails…

Navid

Manouchehri

Parnaz

Daneshpajouhnejad

IFMSA-Iran

Sarah

Hosseinpoor

IFMSA-Iran

Sarah Mozafarpour

IFMSA-Iran

Page | 13

On Saturday, August 11th 2012 at

4:53 PM local time (12:23 GMT)

two extremely cruel earthquakes

with an interval of eleven minutes,

occurred in East Azarbaijan prov-

ince, northwestern of Iran.

The Iranian International Institute

of Earthquake Engineering and

Seismology (IIEES) reported a

magnitude of 6.3 and 6.4 on Rich-

ter Magnitude Scale, at a depth of

less than 10 kilometers. The near-

est city to the epicenter (60 kilo-

meters from Tabriz) was Ahar, a

city with a population of about one

hundred thousand. More than 300

aftershocks with magnitudes be-

tween 2.5 and 5.3 that took place

in depths like three or four kilome-

ters, have also struck the area fol-

lowing the initial twin earthquakes.

The earthquake was also felt in

the two neighboring countries, Ar-

menia and Azerbaijan, with no

major damage reported.

According to the published reports

more than three hundred people

were killed, around 5000 people

were injured and more than 16000

were left homeless.

State TV

reported

that out of a

total of 537

in the

affected area,

more than

365 villages

were heavily

destroyed.

Twenty villages were also totally

leveled with the ground. Over

12,000 houses were completely

destroyed or heavily damaged

and many people have been

trapped in the rubble. Electricity

and phone lines were all down af-

ter the quakes in the area.

People were scared. They did not

want to go back into their houses

in the fear of aftershocks. Red

Crescent officials could come up

with the most important, very first

needs of victims. The list included

warm cloths, wheelchairs, blan-

kets and beds, tents, walkers for

the injured, portable toilets, edible

food and water, wound dressing

and bandages, band aides and

first aid kit.

Apart from the authori-

ties and Iranian Red

Crescent Soc ie ty

(IRCS) relevant assis-

tance, Iranian people

have come out in thou-

sands to help their fellow

Iranians in Azarbai-

jan..They shared their

empathy through do-

nating their own blood.

Flip over to

continue...

Page | 14

They were hundreds of first-time blood do-

nators in blood transfusion centers in Teh-

ran, Karaj and Qom making a show of love

and understanding, which will always be re-

membered. The blood centers were open till

hours past midnight for donors only to keep

up with the demand for everlasting queues

of concerned people who had heard about

shortages of blood supplies. Manager of

Tehran blood transfusion center said that the

numbers of donators have increased tre-

mendously showing the sense of responsibil-

ity. Thousands of blood units have been sent

to East Azarbaijan since the night of tragedy

to make the situation stable enough not to

face shortage of blood units.

Iranian famous celebrities also started a fund

-raising rally for the quake-hit victims, Super-

stars of Iranian cinema went to Azadi cinema,

one of the most famous cinemas in Tehran,

to raise money. It is said that more than

1600000000 Rials (Equals to 80000$) were

raised by Iranian celebrities during the first

couple of days.

Irannian Olympic Medalists also visited the

damaged villages, right after returning to Iran

to help. Iran‟s Greco-Roman wrestlers, Ha-

mid Sourian and Ghasem Rezaei dedicated

their gold medals at London Olympics to the

victims of the earthquakes. Ehsan Hadadi,

Iranian discus thrower who won

the country‟s first track -and

field medal in the Olympic Games also pre-

sented his medal to the quake-hit people. Ali-

reza Dabir former Iranian Olympic champion

andHamid Surian raised more than

50000000000 Rials (Equals to 250000$) for

the reconstruction of the damaged villages.

Many fundraising events have also been held

inside and outside thecountry to raise money

for the victims. Photo exhibitions were held to

raise fund for the earthquake. Iranian musi-

cians held fundraising concerts all over the

country. Several theater shows were dedicat-

ed to the Azarbaijan earthquake. The fifth

round of Iran‟s Premier League (IPL), was

overshadowed by earthquake in East

Azarbaijan. The organization of IPL games

said all the ticket sale from this round was

dedicated to the victims of the quake.

IFMSA –IRAN contacted the national coordi-

nator of the volunteers and made a list of the

volunteer students with special skills and

trainings that were willing to go to quake-hit

regions. President of IFMSA-IRAN with an-

other member visited the area to have a

more accurate estimation of the causalities

and the assistance that the medical students

were able to offer. As medical students we

offer our very sincere condolences to all vic-

tims of the recent earthquake & their families.

We hope they could be well taken care of.

Also we hope that by thinking wise and tak-

ing long term actions and plans, there could

be a better preparation for future quakes

and effective ways to diminish the number

of deaths, injuries, devastations and eco-

nomic damages.

“In countries where quakes are more probable, man-made shakes are used to exam-

ine the ground on which a building is going to be built, so this way the potential re-

sistance of the ground against quakes would be measured, which will prevent further

damages. However, this method is not possible in all villages and even cities due to

socioeconomic issues.

Education is one of the most effective solutions to reduce quake damages. People

should be thought how to face a quake, what to do during quakes as well as post-

quake necessary actions. According to statistics, most of the deaths and injuries

take place during aftershocks. People should be taught to stay stationary for at least

20 minutes. How to rescue the injured and the trapped people without causing them

further damages as well as first aid resuscitation are of great importance and should

be considered as important educations. Schools should have emergency plans and

facilities, including safety rooms and fire alarms.

Fortification of buildings is the next issue of interest. All buildings should be built earthquake resistant. Fast exits and emergency stair are obligatory. Height and num-

ber of houses and residents should be under control.

Functional health centers that can function during emergencies capable of providing

primary needs of patients are much needed in these events. Means of fast and effi-

cient transport is also of great importance.”

Page | 15

Page | 16

Nobody can deny that emer-

gency medicine is one of the

most critical specialties of ad-

vanced medicine except in

East Mediterranean countries.

We still consider it as a piece

of cake according to other spe-

cialties like medicine, pediat-

rics & others. Thus, it suffers

from a high level of disappoint-

ment on various levels; starting from govern-

mental support and ending with physicians'

knowledge.

Let's imagine that a man's life is depending

on minutes of intensive care from well-

equipped emergency room. It's worth thinking

about how we can develop our abilities in our

hospitals - especially governmental ones - to

save thousands of human lives which gets

lost every year mainly due to impairment in

preparations of our emergency rooms.

I won't talk about the causes of this prob-

lem or spend words to describe its state. I‟ll

however try to discuss some of suggested

solutions that the world took in considera-

tion & achieved high levels of success in

life saving aspect & emergency control.

Governmental support

Governments in East Mediterranean coun-

tries have to take their responsibilities in

emergency medicine sector's development

seriously. They should provide hospitals by

the most needed equipment & tools be-

sides ambulances preparations to meet ac-

cidents‟ needs, in order to save lives & low-

er the medical costs of injured people.

Community sharing

Also different sectors of community have

very important role that they must play.

Whether it should be achieved through dona-

tions or being well-oriented about the guide-

lines of disaster management & accident con-

trol.

Human resources

The most important factor in emergency med-

icine development. It requires training, good

preparations, sustainable education to keep

them updated with the latest objectives in

emergency medicine.

Follow-up

To grantee a good level of this medical ser-

vice it's mandatory to set follow-up systems

for continuous control of emergency medicine

departments in all health authorities.

All of this can reconstruct strong emergency

medicine division in our countries to low this

incredible rate of lives' loss in our region.

Emergency medicine welfare needs necessity in EMR

Fekry El Bagory

IFMSA-Egypt

Page | 17

"Check it first, It's urgent"...a general rule

used in our daily live every day. That whenev-

er it comes to emergency, everything else

should subside.

And what could be more emergent than peo-

ple's Live or health as a general?!

Yet, within some of the EMR countries, emer-

gency medicine is still stuck in the same

chain of problems the whole health care sys-

tem is stuck in; especially with the latest

changes in those countries that shows an in-

creased rate of “Emergency” situations as a

whole.

Talking from a closer scope, In the Emergen-

cy Section within university hospitals in my

country, we are still facing some problems

regarding multiple issues like Shortage of fa-

cilities, which is a major problem in the entire

country hospitals, where there is always in

relativity between the number of patients and

the available facilities. This “Irrelatively" pro-

ceeds to include the human resources; doc-

tors and nurses.

Security on hospitals; and perhaps this is a

problem to be highlighted, especially these

days where hospitals started being under

stressful aggression from patients' compan-

ions, putting a major psychological pressure

on the health care team.

All of these problems definitely

do interfere with the guarantee of

delivering a pure and perfect

health service; the fundamental

thing that all the health care stuff

swears upon. And so, it was the

time to raise the" horn of the

emergency" louder and to start

the real act from all

those who occupy a

seat of responsibility

within the health care system. That starting

from putting a general protocol to be imple-

mented in the entire hospitals to be taken as

a " MUST TO DO" model to followed by all

the health care stuff in all the hospitals, defin-

ing the track of the work strategy entitling the

stuff, the facilities, and the security.

William James once said, “Act as if what you

do makes a difference. It does.” It's never too

late to take an action, and perhaps some-

times it's better late than never because

whenever there are intentions, hard work and

convenient planning, there will be definite-

ly...a change.

One that will make us always ready for any

Emergency, far welling it with a note

" Emergency,..Handled".

Emergency Handled

Dalia Abd El-Nasser Awad

IFMSA-Egypt

Doctors and how they always try to do their

best in frames of the available facilities

Part of the Doctors protest seeking

Improvement of the health care system

conditions in Egypt

Page | 18

Following the mission

to be the voice of

medical students all

around the world and

being active in partic-

ipating with leaders

of the health sectors

in the world and in all

the regions, the Inter-

national Federation

of Medical Students

A s s o c i a t i o n s

(IFMSA) participated

in the Fifty-ninth Ses-

sion of the Regional Committee for the East-

ern Mediterranean from the 1st till the 4

th of

October. I had the honor to be the only repre-

sentative of IFMSA in such an important

meeting. So who am I?

I‟m Khalid Hasan Al Hamadani. An Omani

medical student in Sultan Qaboos University.

In my 6th year of medical studies and I have

been an IFMSA active person since my 1st

year. I‟m currently the Training Director in

Oman but I used to be the VPE once and I

used to work in SCOPE. IFMSA and I have

quite a love story, making me one of the

many people who work hard to represent this

amazing organization in the best way ever.

The meeting commenced on the 1st of Octo-

ber and for four days many topics important

to the region were discussed and decisions

were made for the best of the region. During

the four days I gave two statements in two

different topics, of course representing IFMSA

in both.

The first statement was on the second day of

the meeting and it was about the “Political

Declaration of the United Nations General As-

sembly on the prevention and control of non-

communicable diseases: commitments of

member States and the way forward”. Repre-

senting IFMSA, I mentioned that non-

communicable disease crisis was about equi-

ty and efforts to control non-communicable

diseases must be integrated with multi secto-

rial strategies to reduce the imbalance of so-

cial determinants of health. I also mentioned

that traditional ways of health education were

not effective anymore and suggested that

youth and the community should be involved

in the implementation of health plans and

strategies such as those for the prevention

and control of non-communicable diseases.

The second statement was on the third day of

the meeting and it was about “WHO reform:

current status and regional perspective”. I

urged the regional committee members to

make sure that social determinants of health

be put as one of the main priorities of WHO

work now and in the future. I also mentioned

that defining designated competencies in the

implementation of cross sectorial approach

will prevent neglecting a comprehensive ap-

proach to social determinants of health as in-

tended. Regarding the funding problem of

WHO, I urged the member states to

59th Session of the Regional Committee for the

Eastern Mediterranean: The Experience of an Omani

Khalid Hasan Al Hamadani

Sultan Qaboos University-

Medical Student Group

(SQU-MSG)

Page | 19

individually examine their voluntary contribu-

tions and allow more flexibility to the secretar-

iat to address global priority areas and to

commit to a sustainable core funding pledges.

Beside the meeting related work and under

the request of the Regional Coordinator of the

EMR at that time Miss Lujain AL Qodmani, I

contacted the official delegations of some of

the EMR countries that aren‟t yet part of

IFMSA to let them know about IFMSA and the

possibility of their countries medical institu-

tions to join IFMSA and make IFMSA family

bigger.

The meeting was very beneficial and I had

the chance to meet many officials from the

ministries of health from almost all the region,

and learn from them. This included the minis-

ter of health of Oman and the accompanying

delegation. In such a meeting you could see

and compare what our country doing in terms

of health compared to other countries in the

region and internationally. I was amazed by

the amount of achievements Oman have

done and the plans that will be done to raise

the quality of health in Oman. And I‟m sure

that everyone who attends the meeting will

feel the same. Finally, I do urge every medi-

cal student in the EMR region and in the

world to grab the chance IFMSA offers to

Page | 20

attend such meetings to represent medical

students worldwide and get a very good edu-

cative and personal experience.

Note: You can find the full text of both inter-

ventions below:

Intervention (1): On the “Political Declaration

of the United Nations General Assembly on

the prevention and control of non-

communicable diseases: commitments of

member States and the way forward”:

Dear Chairman, Director-General, and Hon-

ourable Regional Committee

As a representative of the International Fed-

eration of Medical Student Associations

(IFMSA), I am speaking on behalf of 1.3 mil-

lion young people and future health profes-

sionals. We applaud the efforts of member-

states in tackling the NCD crisis as it ac-

counts for the largest cause of primarily pre-

ventable deaths of patients worldwide. How-

ever, I would like to take the opportunity to

raise some areas of concern:

1. The NCD crisis is about equity. Recalling that the NCDs disproportionately affect the poorest of society, we believe that the NCD crisis is one of equity, re-minding us of WHO‟s Alma Ata commit-ment to Health For All. We disagree with the statements made at Rio+20 that the NCD crisis can be solved through healthy lifestyles. Rather, multi-sectorial strategies to reduce the imbalance of social determi-

nants of health must be integrated with ef-forts to control NCDs as further social in-equity will only exacerbate the crisis.

Secondly, Yesterday some points were raised by some member states about the im-portance of health promotion and educa-tion. I would also like to emphasize on this issue as it has a major role in solving the raising problem of NCD‟s in our region. The usual method of using traditional ways of community education such as posters, leaflets, etc, in all of our health education programs are not effective anymore and other means to deliver our message to the community should be implemented. Thus to achieve that I suggest the following:

1) I n v o l v i n g t h e y o u t h .

Young people in the EMR and world-

wide are interested in improving the

health statuses of their countries. Put-

ting in mind that the youth of this re-

gion were the driving force of radical

change in many of the countries in the

region. It is important that we recog-

nize that they are able to influence de-

velopment in our region significantly

including the prevention and control of

NCD‟s. Student organizations like our-

selves can be of major help, and we

will be happy to collaborate with WHO.

2) Involving the community

Communities in the EMR region and

worldwide are the target for all health

plans made by WHO or by the member

states ministries of health , but they are

seldom involved in implementing the

plans. Health education and promotion

should shift from “heath professional

centered to community centered”. The

communities by guidance of the health

professionals should be given the initi-

ative to hear their ideas and involve

them in implementation of the health

plans.

Page | 21

This will reduce the huge gap between health professionals and community, resulting in a more trust relationship that will have a huge impact on chang-ing the culture and unhealthy habits of the community by the community itself. This will also raise the pressure on non-health sectors that have immediate relation with the community health to implement the recommendations set by WHO and member states.

I stand here representing medical students from more than one hundred countries - young people who also suffer from NCDs. As the health professionals of tomorrow, we are committed to combating this major health challenge of our generation. We urge mem-ber states to equip WHO and implement its recommendations to remain at the forefront of efforts to resolve the NCD crisis.

Thank you.

Intervention (2): On the “WHO reform: cur-

rent status and regional perspective”:

Dear Chairman, Director General, honourable Regional Committee We as medical students worldwide passion-ately believe in the remarkable potential of the WHO to be the lead player in global health governance but have often been frus-trated with the apparent bureaucracy, funding restrictions and spurious interests that seem to hinder the Organization. That is why we gave a similar statement all over the WHO regional meetings this year to ensure that our voice regarding this issue

reaches every member state in all the re-gions. Thus we are grateful for this opportuni-ty to address two key areas in which we would urge you to even greater action. Firstly, putting Social Determinants of Health as one of the main priority areas of WHOs work, now and in the future. We applaud the member states and WHO for acknowledging the wide reaching roots and causes of health inequity through all sectors. We want to highlight that this approach, if poorly executed, accommodates potential pit-falls. The implementation of a cross-sectorial approach, without defining designated com-petencies, opens doors to easily banking or neglecting a comprehensive SDH approach as intended. Therefore, it is vital that member states see the need to put the Social Determi-nants of Health lens in the center of the WHO reform process. Secondly, with regard to the funding issue, we of course support the separation of fund-ing acquisition from priority setting. An Organ-ization which derives over 70% of its funding from specified contributions cannot succeed in objectively setting its own agenda. Thus we call on the Eastern Mediterranean Member States to individually examine their own vol-untary contributions and consider ways in which restrictions can be relaxed to allow the Secretariat greater flexibility in addressing global priority areas, and also to collectively resolve to commit to sustainable core funding pledges to reflect a renewed Member State confidence in a reformed WHO. In conclusion, as a voice of the future, we are passionate to see Health For All truly real-ized, and we are passionate about the poten-tial for the WHO in achieving this. Let‟s make this commendable call for reform a true redis-covery of WHO‟s core principles – and please be bold, be creative and be cooperative as Member States and Secretariat in laying aside national and personal interests in work-ing towards this noble goal.

Thank you.

Page | 22

6 months of continuous

work from 23 medical

students from Jordan

resulted in EMR 8; a

successful meeting for

our region. I‟ve never

thought that I would

take part in organizing

a huge meeting in this

short time. Till now, a

lot of people keep on

asking me, what made

you put yourself in this

situation? Work? Emails?

And registration? Don‟t

you have any exams?

It wasn‟t an easy decision be committing to

the organizing committee and to promise

them to do everything that is related to the

delegates‟ registration. Yes, I had to reply to

loads of emails, check the website, update

lists and provide data for the rest of the team;

which took much of my time. I didn‟t know

how wonderful it feels just after the team suc-

ceeds in the project, until I have lived these

moments.

Below, I am listing a couple of reasons and

benefits of taking part in any kind of project,

especially a meeting like this:

1) First of all, you enrich your experiences

and you will be obliged to develop more skills

in relation to the needs to keep up with the

demands of the team work.

2) Working with people is mandatory. You

can‟t work on your own and no one can work

without you. Your presence is essential to the

group and this would build the team spirit in-

side each one of us. Working through a team

is important in our lives; it is indeed the cor-

nerstone of our future careers.

3) When it comes to business, it is business.

Nothing personal affects or shall affect you!

Getting the work done is your only aim.

4) In such an international meeting, you get to

meet people from all over the world, knowing

them better, learning and exchanging experi-

ences. You wouldn‟t find anything similar un-

less you do join such meetings. They become

your friends in less than no time, as if you

have known them for ages.

5) This is the simplest way to increase your

self-confidence and stamina. Your team will

be giving you their trust and you will be feel-

ing the responsibility within. Whenever you

help in putting the project all together, you are

getting more points into your own counter.

The more you do well, the more reinforce-

ment, the more self-confidence and here it

g o e s o n a n d o n .

6) You tend to discover more of yourself

when you are under stress! Newton didn‟t dis-

cover the Law of Gravity until he got hit by an

apple!

7) If you don‟t experience joining projects or

working as a team to achieve a goal now,

then when will you?

8) You learn how to manage time and how to

respect it, because if you don‟t respect time, it

wouldn‟t respect you.

To keep this short, I do believe that EMR8

has been an important milestone in my life

and career. Got my vision widened, got satis-

fied in what I did and offered, not to forget

how I managed to see myself work even

w h e n I w a s s l e e p d e p r i v e d .

I do advice each one of you to try giving your-

self a chance, whatever was the project, who-

ever was in the team. Have faith and trust in

your own work and be open to people‟s ad-

vice and help. The satisfaction that you get

will be the reason for another start ahead.

Fuad Habash

IFMSA-Jo

Why be an active IFMSAian?

Page | 23

EMR International Team

2012-2013

EMR Official

Mona M. Faramawy

[EMSS, U.A.E]

RC EMR

rcemr@ifmsa.org

Development Assistants

Pushpa Hossain

[IFMSA-Egypt]

EMR DA for Publications

da.publicatons.emr@gmail.com

Co –DAs for

New Technologies

Ahmed Shehata

[IFMSA-Egypt]

Nadir Al-Azri

[SQU-MSG, Oman]

Regional Assistants

Mohamed Meshref

[IFMSA-Egypt]

RA SCOME

ra.scome.emr@gmail.com

Fekry El-Bagory

[IFMSA-Egypt]

RA SCOPH

ra.scoph.emr@gmail.com

Joe Cherabie

[LeMSIC, Lebanon]

RA SCORA

jncherabie@gmail.com

Carl Joe

[LeMSIC, Lebanon]

RA SCOPE

ra.scope.emr@gmail.com

Maysah AlMulla

[IFMSA-BH, Bahrain]

RA SCORE

ra.score.emr@gmail.com

Mohamed Zarrami

[ASSOCIA-MED, Tunisia]

RA Projects

da.projects.emr@gmail.com

Skander Zouari

[ASSOCIA-MED, Tunisia]

RA VPE

emr.ra.vpe@gmail.com Co –RAs SCORP

ra.scorp.emr@gmail.com

Sana Saboui

[ASSOCIA-MED, Tunisia]

Melika Hanifiha

[IFMSA-Iran]