Importance of research in maintaining a sustainable healthcare system

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Naã Sousa Rocha is a 20-year-old medical student, born and raised in the interior of Ceará, a Brazilian state. He 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 onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 required the emergence of innovative health and prevention technologies in the face of a biological threat that, until then, had not been widely known or studied by science. Therefore, research efforts were needed to develop strategies to limit the spread of the biological agent causing the state of global health calamity: the coronavirus. Thus, the outcome of the pandemic situation, in 2023, was due to the development of new forms of prevention and eradication of the disease, such as vaccination.

From what has been described, one can see the importance that research and science have in maintaining a sustainable health system, as they guarantee adaptability, a characteristic established as an intrinsic factor in sustainable health systems, by specialist on the subject Harvey Finebarg, American doctor. This is because sustainability, in terms of health systems, guarantees the provision of quality health services to present and future generations even in the face of social, environmental or structural changes.

That said, it is up to the state and the population to promote both the creation of science in health and its acceptability by the population, as this is not always possible, given cases of denialist governments and in the face of anti-science movements, which emerged with greater strength after the coronavirus period. That said, the important role that the population plays in perpetuating sustainability can be inferred, as it has the right to vote and choose authorities that support scientific production, as well as acting as a crucial element in the receptivity of public health policies, fruits of research, by the population. This popular welcome is a fundamental element in the effectiveness of the actions promoted by the State, since that they are aimed at the population.

In this line of reasoning, the Government also has an essential responsibility regarding promoting scientific production, judging by the positive impact that measures such as the valorization of the area and the redirection of resources that finance it can have. Therefore, having overcome these impasses, adaptability, inherent to sustainable health systems, must be achieved.

About the author

Naã Sousa Rocha is a 20-year-old medical student, born and raised in the interior of Ceará, a Brazilian state, studying at the Federal University of Ceará, on the Fortaleza campus, where he participates in the IFMSA Brazil UFC Fortaleza project, in which he holds the position of local director of marketing and communications.