Fiona Olivia GATEKA BURUNDI Medical Students Association (ABEM) THE ROLE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS,DOCTORS AND THEIR TRAINING ON THE RIGHT TO HEALTH Fiona Olivia GATEKA BURUNDI Medical Students Association (ABEM)

Who are we? Burundi medical students work through their association called “ABEM=Association Burundaise des Etudiants en Médecine”. It was created in 2002 and now it is a full member of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations(IFMSA). SCORP/BURUNDI has recently begun. In 2007,the President of ABEM was invited to attend a training organized by IFHHRO. That was our first opportunity to learn about the right to health. Some students have been sensitized in order to begin the SCORP activities since 2008.

Introduction In preparation to be health professionals; medical students are called to advance the understanding of health and human rights among themselves; their institution and their communities. Health professionals worldwide can play an integral role in protecting the health right. In order for them to do so, it is essential that they have a fundamental understanding of the content, implications, and implementation of health rights.

Role of Medical Associations to promote the right to Health. Medical associations have a number of responsibilities in achieving the right to health in their various settings and regions. These include the following: Providing leadership: Establishing and disseminating clear standards of medical practice, ensuring the existence of monitoring mechanisms for medical practice, ensuring that they do not support activities which damage public health and changing laws or policies that damage health.

Role of Medical Associations. (continued) Providing guidance: This involves identifying the need for guidance, developing guidance notes and other publications, assisting in the development of medical curricula and contributing to continuing medical education. Promoting awareness: This can be done through journals, seminars and conferences. It can also be done by supporting voluntary medical groups, supporting exchange programs, etc...

Role of Medical Associations (continued) Ethics and Human Rights training: Educating people on the right to health can only be done starting from the roots. It can start with the education on human rights through, developing and promoting the teaching of ethics, push for medical schools to incorporate rights training into the curriculum, disseminate international declarations and statements. Targeted activities can include: establishing a human rights committee, campaigning against harmful practices, campaigning for equitable access to health care and promoting measures to improve health and welfare.

Obligations of Health professionals Honest, polite and respectful to all patients without discrimination; Ensuring professional skills maintained; Respecting patient autonomy and dignity; Providing up-to-date relevant information; Respecting confidentiality; Quality - ensuring the quality of the goods and services they provide, including their own skills; Signaling - apply professional expertise in signaling violations of the right to health;

Obligations of Health professionals (continued) Reporting - health professionals or their professional organization should report the violations they encounter; Refuse to participate in Harmful exercises which include; Torture and cruel and inhuman punishment, administration of the death penalty , forced feeding ,forced sedation, illegal organ trade, female genital mutilation, unethical research.

Objectives of the trainings The keys objectives of the trainings are: To improve the quality of health care services, To improve the relationship between health-users and health-provides, To have a greater emphasis on patients rights, To encourage greater participation in decision-making and policy-making, To assist in the setting standards for the delivery of health care services.

What have been done by ABEM? Our main advantage is that there is no difficulties with organization and mobilization, students are interested and participate in meetings and activities. Our activities include: Ongoing sensitization, Linking our activities to other national and international activists programs in the field of health and human rights, Medical care camp.

Our Challenges Lack of capacity to plan programs which are both effective and realistic, To know exactly what to do in the face of health right violations, To provide ethical services, Lack of education on the right to health, Lack of resources, Lack of safety for students and prevention against accidental infection. For example, students are not vaccinated against Hepatitis B, yet they are constantly exposed.

Conclusion To promote the right to health is a difficult and continual fight. As Burundian medical students we are facing these challenges in the best way we can. We want all health professionals to have a global understanding of health and human right, and to promote the right to health for the entire population.

Thank you