IFMSA Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting 2014 Bangladesh

Physicians are today’s superheroes, saving lives through optimized health care services. Yet, they are at cross roads between an increasing variety of new diseases and epidemics. Medical students all over the world are their vital sidekicks, bridging the gaps between the by gone era and today’s state of the art medical advancements, and the IFMSA is the best example of how medical students help to save the world.

Each year, the members of the Asia-pacific region meet each other at IFMSA’s March Meeting and August Meeting, but there is something exclusive about the Asia Pacific Regional Meeting. Hundreds of medical students meet at the APRM to work on new issues, making new friends and becoming tomorrow’s change makers through better understanding of the theme and improved collaboration between member nations.

We take this opportunity to humbly welcome you all, on behalf of Bangladesh Medical Students' Society, to this year’s Asia Pacific Regional Meeting in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. We are eagerly waiting for this opportunity to work with everyone on this year’s theme 'Disaster Risk Management: Every Second Counts – Each Life Matters’, noting the increasing importance of disaster management and disaster preparedness in the Asia-Pacific region.

Bangladesh is a developing country, striving every day to overcome the various economical, geopolitical and social obstacles it faces. We make headlines every now and then, for our natural disasters and accidents. Yet, we come out resilient, making good use of our scarce resources – evident in an overall reduction in lives lost in disasters. To us, Every Second Counts & Each Life Matters, regardless of how devastating our calamities are. Even then, sometimes we are outwitted by the severity of the catastrophes we face, as observed with the collapse of a building last year, costing the lives of many beloved garments’ workers. This is a grave issue that reflects how disaster preparedness and planned allotment of resources can help curb the severity of accidents.

Asia happens to top the death toll for natural disasters. The Asia – Pacific region is a hot bed of earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and typhoons. The aftermath of any disaster here raises economic, political and social turmoil. Sometimes, the effects are so far-reaching that nations beyond the Asia-Pacific expanse have to be on alert, as exemplified by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

All in all, every nation has a long way to go towards reducing the mortality and morbidity rates in relation to disasters and accidents. Our aim, for APRM2014, is to raise awareness among each other about the difficulties faced in managing disasters and stimulate a reduction in casualties through disaster preparedness.

As we build new ties and work in unison, we hope to promote the essence of long term regional collaboration. In effect, APRM2014 will be an apt follow up to the August Meeting 2014, in Taiwan, where the topics of sustainable health care and sustainable environment will come under scrutiny under the theme “Sustainable Development for the New Era”. Sustaining health care services during a disaster is the key to reducing disaster associated death tolls, while fostering a sustainable environment guarantees less man-made disasters plus a safer environment for everyone, anywhere in the world.

This gracious opportunity to work on disaster management via APRM2014 in Dhaka, in just our 5th year with IFMSA, will serve to fortify Bangladesh’s role as an effective member of the IFMSA. As a relatively new member of IFMSA and in having participated in numerous General Assemblies and meetings, we have been able to work locally and make noticeable improvements in the fields we have been engaged in. Conversely, medical students will get a splendid chance to explore the root of disasters in the APRM2014, and take lessons home that will help them make Every second count, Each life matter.