The Future Health Professionals: Continuity of the Goals in Brazil

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Maria L. C. Meurer, a 4^th year medical student of UNINGÁ and a member of IFMSA Brazil. 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 is a commitment made by the United Nations (UN) and several countries for social, environmental and economic development, comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)and 169 goals that must be achieved by 2030.In this way, despite the current and future health professionals having the possibility to contribute to all the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda, namely their greatest work is in SDG 3, which corresponds to “Good Health and Well-Being”, remembering that this means only greater direction to that specific SDG, since they are integrated and indivisible.

When we raise the issue of health and well-being, it is important to remember the concept of health from WHO (World Health Organization) which defines it as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not just the absence of disease.With this focus, nine goals for SDG 3 were foreseen, based on the reduction of maternal mortality; at the end of preventable child deaths; in the fight against epidemics and diseases transmissible by water and other vehicles; in reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases; in the prevention and treatment related to the use of alcohol, tobacco and narcotics; in reducing deaths in traffic situations and by dangerous chemicals; and the necessary access to health systems and services.

From this perspective, it is clear that the difficulties in promoting the population’s health and well-being are enormous and depend on several aspects, since the challenges of future health professionals are not only based on the fulfillment of the objectives of Agenda 2030, but in its continuity through the prevention of diseases and the reduction of current problems, because until the year 2030, factors such as the growth and aging of the population will demand more and more intensification in the actions directed to this aspect.

Thus, the importance of making sure the first contact is highlighted, which is one of the essential attributes of Primary Health Care (PHC) as it corresponds to the accessibility and use of the service for each new health problem in addition to ensuring universal and continuous access to qualified and resolutive services, welcoming, linking and co-responsible the user in health care.

Therefore, the importance of qualifying and recognizing future health professionals is reaffirmed in Brazil, especially those who will work in the Unified Health System (SUS) and will collaborate to achieve the SDG 3, thus guaranteeing healthy life and fomenting well-being for all at all ages.

Bibliography:

•Nações Unidas Brasil. 2021? Available from: <https://brasil.un.org/pt-br/sdgs/3&gt;. Acess on: May 23^rd, 2021.

•Plataforma AGENDA 2030. 2021? Available from: <http://www.agenda2030.org.br/sobre/&gt;. Acess on: May 23^rd, 2021.

•CATANANTE, Guilherme Vinicius et al. Participação social na Atenção Primária à Saúde em direção à Agenda 2030. Ciênc. saúde coletiva, Rio de Janeiro, v. 22, n. 12, p. 3965-3974, dez.  2017.   Available from <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-81232017021203965&lng=pt&nrm=iso&gt;. Acess on: May 23^rd, 2021.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413-812320172212.24982017.

• Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU). Transformando Nosso Mundo: A Agenda 2030 para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, 2015. Available from: https://nacoesunidas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/agenda2030-pt-br.pdf  Acess on: May 23^rd, 2021.

About the author

Maria L. C. Meurer is a 4^th year medical student of UNINGÁ and a member of IFMSA Brazil. She is interested in human rights and medicine and her hobbies include reading and participating in extension activities from her university. Natália Tiemi Nakahata is a 6^th year Medical Student at Ingá University Center, Maringá-PR, Brazil. She is currently studying for residency exams and interested in women’s health. As an enthusiast of the simple things in life, she enjoys reading about different subjects in her free time, helping people and watching the sunrise.