Just nine years to go in order to achieve the 2030 agenda, will we?

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Ekpe Onyinyechi Pecae Ibitoru, currently a 5^th medical student of Sumy State Medical Institute, Ukraine. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

The 2030 agenda for sustainable development opens our eyes to the need for growing participation and support in every necessary area. As a firm believer, each of us has a role to play in order to succeed in this task.

This article will focus on the role future health professionals can take in the final countdown towards achieving this agenda. Privileged to be one myself, I could not help but ask, “What can I do to help?” and these are my answers.

We need not feel inessential and insufficient in our ability to help but must do our part by;

• Alleviating ignorance and indifference on the matter of global and public health amidst us, by changing our mind-set towards our roles in health care and our responsibilities as future health care professionals. Many aspirants come into the field for money or for social status. Only few believe that we owe it to ourselves and the lives put in our hands, to not only start and complete the scope of our practice, but to empower ourselves with proper information on global health in order to get involved and provoke the change required.
• Equipping ourselves to handle impromptu situations by understanding the impact acquired knowledge will make on a global scale. According to WHO (2019 article of maternal mortal), 75% of all maternal deaths are caused by complications of bleeding after birth, infections and eclampsia. Thus, we are tasked with the job of honing a meticulous assessment and practical skill applicable to all patients. This will help end the occurrence of preventable deaths of new-borns.
• Spreading awareness, though a job for all, is one of the ways we can contribute by being armed with elaborate and specialized knowledge on the matters of prevention and treatment of substance abuse, the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, etc. We are best suited to help by focusing on those more at risk and scanning out possible leaks.
• Perfecting emergency technique and skill. Skills acquired during the course of learning are able to better the chances of victims’ survival in road traffic accidents. Knowing that all hands are on deck, we can also help to reduce the global death rate.
• Creating innovative ideas and solutions to world global issues like the deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals. We are charged with the responsibility of using the full power of the knowledge we have, by reason of our field of study and even outside our field of study, in order to provide ground breaking innovations aimed at sustaining life and wellness.

In summary, there is still much left to do and the bulk of work cannot be on the current health professionals alone. We must look for more ways to help our senior colleagues. Do not be discouraged; rather see the need to be better. This, in my opinion, is one way we can honour the labours of those who fell during this ghastly pandemic.

About the author

Ekpe Onyinyechi Pecae Ibitoru is currently a 5^th medical student of Sumy State Medical Institute, Ukraine. She is passionate about writing and she expresses this passion in her blog “God at His finest Blog” where she talks about faith and lifestyle. She has handled many leadership positions in the course of her medical experience and she aims to broaden her scope of knowledge by attending and actively participating in many informative conferences held worldwide . She is committed to bringing out the best in herself and those around her for the greater purpose of providing high quality service to God and humanity.