64th IFMSA General Assembly Antalya, Turkey from 2nd -8th March 2015

Abstract

The International Federation of Medical Students Organizations’ (IFMSA) is a non- profit, non-governmental organization that represents over 1.3 million medical students worldwide and has more than 123 member nations. Every year, it holds two general assemblies, one in March and the other in August. Prior to the start of the general assembly (GA), there is a pre-general assembly (pre-GA) with several workshops that run concurrently. This year I (Mohamed Ali Omar) attended the Climate change and Health workshop during the pre-GA that was held in Istanbul, Turkey from 26th February to 2nd March. The facilitators for this workshop were Alice McGushin from Tasmania, Australia; Isobel Braithwaite from the United Kingdom and Charlotte from Denmark. 14 countries from 5 continents were represented in this workshop. The sessions were wide ranging and included; the basic science of climate change, arguments put forward by climate sceptics, examples of climate change that are occurring currently and the impact that it will have on the future, Current efforts agreements by world nations to try and reduce the rate of climate change such as Rio 92 and COP 20 to be held in Paris in 2015 were also discussed. We also had small working groups on the changes that have occurred in different countries and the efforts that authorities are putting in to reduce the impact of these changes.The General assembly was held in Antalya, Turkey from 2nd -8th March at the Limak Atlantis Hotel. During this general assembly, several sessions were running in parallel with more than 110 countries represented. The sessions were on reproductive health and sexual education including HIV/AIDS, professional and research exchange among the medical students, medical education, human rights and peace ,public health, management of national member organizations and president’s sessions. I attended the presidents’ sessions whereby there were policy statements that were discussed. For the 64th General Assembly I was an executive support person who assisted the executive board in assisting in smooth progression of the president’s sessions. The policy statements discussed included a policy statement of the federation on obesity and sugar consumption, the post 2015 agenda and sexual harassment. During the afternoon sessions, there were discussions on the theme events. There were discussions on Humanitarian action and the place of medical students in war and disaster. During the evening, plenary sessions were held and the general assembly voted on policy statements of the federation, new executive board members were elected and there was adoption of by law changes to the IFMSA constitution.Social events that occurred at the pre- general assembly and the general assembly were; a cruise down the Bosphorus in Istanbul, a trip down to the old city in Istanbul, a national foods and drinks party and a cultural presentation by each country present for the meeting.