DG meets DG

Dr. Guinto meets the Director-General

Candidature for the position of

Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization

of the

International Federation of Medical Students Associations

2012-2013
by

Ramon Lorenzo Luis R. Guinto

Regional Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific, IFMSA Former President, Asian Medical Students Association - Philippines

Renzo in the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila, September 2011

Bridging the Leaders and Leaders-to-be

Greetings to my beloved IFMSA family! I write to you today to present my candidature for the position of Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization for the term 2012-2013. I recently finished my Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines in Manila. However, after a series of reflection and with the support of friends and colleagues, I have decided not to retire immediately from IFMSA the Federation that I have served for the past two years in various capacities, and the Federation that I still have faith on in greatly transforming the state of worlds health for the better.

My past year as Regional Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific has been a fruitful, productive, and meaningful one. With the combined commitment of my Regional Team and the unwavering support and participation of my NMOs, we together have created a region of medical students that now thinks more beyond national borders, and that are inspired to participate more in efforts to make the world healthier. This time, as a final offering to IFMSA, I have decided to consider spending one more year in the IFMSA Team of Officials but this time, as the Federations link to our oldest and biggest partner in global health work the World Health Organization. WHO is not foreign to me I first engaged with WHO when I was a member of the IFMSA delegation to the 30th anniversary conference of the Alma Ata Declaration in 2008 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Since then, I have been working with WHO on many different issues and projects on adolescent health during a WHO meeting in Manila, also in 2008; on disaster management and global health education for various regional projects in Asia-Pacific, some even before I got elected Regional Coordinator; and most recently, on social determinants of health and health equity, first as the facilitator of the Small Working Group on Health Inequity, and then as the interim and founding coordinator of the IFMSA Global Health Equity Initiative. I also headed the IFMSA delegation to the WHO Western Pacific Regional Committee Meeting last year. These previous relationships with WHO are indeed great investments for the unfinished work of IFMSAs Liaison Officer to the WHO. You are assured that the same energy, passion, vision, and commitment that I gave to the AsiaPacific region, the IFMSA Global Health Equity Initiative, and other working groups and task forces in the Federation, will also be devoted to the work for strengthening our partnership and cultivating our relationship with WHO. I also hope for your utmost support and cooperation, because I am merely a link, while you, our members, are the real partners of WHO in making health for all a reality. The Liaison Officer to the WHOs major role is to bridge together the global health leaders and the leaders-to-be which is us. Thank you for your time. Health for all,

Renzo Ramon Lorenzo Luis R. Guinto, MD

Renzo as head of the IFMSA delegation to the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, held last October 19-21, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plan of Action
For the position of Liaison Officer to the WHO
Organization Arrange WHO-related resources and archives under LO management Explore possibilities of including additional volunteers to assist LO work especially on certain areas o Training and orientation for IFMSA delegations o Drafting statements and background papers for WHO events o Drafting reports and publicity materials regarding IFMSAs work with WHO Facilitate smooth handover of tasks and resources from previous LO (2011-2012) and to next LO (2013-2014)

Communication Establish constant communication with key WHO contacts o Director-Generals Office o Departments with existing partnerships with IFMSA o Departments that are enthusiastic to partner with IFMSA Effectively communicate messages, publications, and updates from WHO to members o Through the online servers o Regularly forward the Bulletin of the WHO and other WHO publications o Increase WHO presence in IFMSA social media (WHO videos, pertinent websites, news updates from WHO, etc.) Be constantly available (especially online) to answer WHO-related queries from IFMSA members Coordination Ensure effective coordination of IFMSA delegations to WHO conferences and meetings o Send advanced calls for IFMSA delegations to all servers o Ensure high-quality delegations while keeping in mind regional representation, experience, and transparency in selection o Provide logistical assistance to delegations (in coordination with NMOs with WHO offices) o Provide timely and comprehensive training and orientation about WHO affairs to all IFMSA delegations o Work closely with delegations in drafting statements and devising advocacy strategy for WHO events o Devise ways to ensure that conference outputs trickle down to NMOs and concerned standing committees and initiatives o Ensure smooth reporting by delegations about WHO events
Upcoming WHO events o World Health Assembly in May 2013 o Regional Committee Meetings from September-October 2013 o Executive Board Meeting in January 2013 o Other WHO-organized conferences (ex. 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion in June 2013, Helsinki)

Renzo with Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, with Maria Kusuma Tatang (CIMSA-ISMKI-Indonesia) and Kai Yuan Cheng (FMS-Taiwan), IFMSA delegates to the WHO Western Pacific Regional Committee Meeting held last October 10-14, 2011 in Manila, Philippines

Facilitate smooth conduct of IFMSA internship programs in WHO o Ensure high-quality interns in existing IFMSA programs while keeping in mind regional representation, interest and experience, and transparency in selection o Provide interns with pre-internship orientation about WHO o Initiate discussions regarding IFMSA support for interns from developing countries to ensure equity in access to WHO internships o Explore new internship programs in WHO Geneva Headquarters Social Determinants of Health Human Resources for Health o Explore possibilities for IFMSA internship programs in WHO Regional Offices (ex. Negotiations have already started for the Western Pacific Regional Office)

Harmonization and Team Work Closely coordinate with the Executive Board to ensure coherence between the LOs work and overall IFMSA work Consult with other members of the Team of Officials regarding potential linkages between WHO thrusts and IFMSA priorities Harmonize WHO relations with ongoing activities and programs in various IFMSA standing committees and initiative projects Provide support to the Executive Board and Team of Officials on other IFMSA matters beyond the LOs scope of work

For IFMSA and its relationship with the WHO

Stronger Partnerships Strengthen existing partnerships between IFMSA and WHO o Social Determinants of Health o Global Health Workforce Alliance o Partnership for Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health o Public Health and Environment (Climate Change and post-Rio+20 efforts) o Communications New Relationships Explore new areas of cooperation in tandem with existing IFMSA projects and activities o Health Systems Strengthening o Non-communicable Diseases o Mental Health o Other areas (which will be based from the results of the consultation with IFMSA) Policy Engagement with WHO Explore ways on how IFMSA can communicate its stand on various health issues to WHO (ex. Using policy statements) To ensure youth representation in global health policy making, actively lobby WHO to include IFMSA in commissions and technical working groups that WHO will create in the future Explore possibility for a Model World Health Assembly in partnership with the WHO which may be held before the WHA in Geneva

Renzo with Dr. Rodel Nodora of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and the participants of Think Global Asia-Pacific Workshop on Global Health in Medical Education, held in Manila last December 19-21, 2011

WHOs participation in IFMSA activities In coordination with MM2013 and AM2013 hosts, invite resource persons from WHO (ex. For MM2013, invite speakers from the Pan-American Health Organization in Washington, DC) In coordination with Regional Coordinators, invite resource persons from WHO to Regional Meetings Support standing committees, initiatives, and other groups within IFMSA that wish to invite WHO resource persons to their activities (Ex. Summer schools, training workshops, etc.)

Renzo with the WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, UNICEF Executive Director Ms. Ann Veneman, and the IFMSA delegation to the 30th Anniversary Conference of the Alma Ata Declaration, October 2008, Almaty, Kazakhstan

For the NMOs

In addition to the aforementioned goals and strategies: Consult NMOs regarding key priorities linking IFMSAs activities and WHOs thrusts (Consultation to happen in October 2012 as soon as term starts) Provide technical guidance regarding NMO collaboration with WHO Country Offices In cooperation with the Regional Coordinators, explore collaboration with WHO Regional Offices o Projects and programs o Internship and volunteer activities o WHO presence in Regional Meetings

Ramon Lorenzo Luis R. Guinto

Ramon Lorenzo Luis Rosa Guinto or Renzo obtained his Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science in Basic Medical Science cum laude at the University of the Philippines Manila under the Integrated Liberal Arts and Medicine (INTARMED) Program, a unique accelerated seven-year medical course offered to the top 40 of the 70,000 high school students applying for admission to UP every year. He also finished his internship at the Philippine General Hospital, the national tertiary hospital of the Philippines.

A staunch health and environment advocate, Renzo founded UP One Earth, the only student environmental organization of health sciences students in UP Manila which seeks to lead in education, research, advocacy, and service on matters relating to health and the environment. In 2007, Renzo was named Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Award in Germany, and in 2010, a United States Department of State scholar in global environment, through which he was able to study at the EastWest Center in Hawaii and in Washington, DC.

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Renzo served as Vice Chairperson (2008-2009), and eventually Chairperson (2009-2010) of the University Student Council of UP Manila. His term as top leader of the university is a period of heightened student participation in university governance, health and environmental action, community engagement, disaster response, and even the 2010 Philippine national elections.

During the period 2010-2011, he was also president of the Asian Medical Students Association (AMSA)Philippines, a national association of socio-civic organizations of medical students in the Philippines, and concurrently Philippine Representative to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), the largest student federation in the world recognized by the United Nations and the World Health Organization as the official international voice of medical students.

Last October 2011, he began his term as IFMSA Regional Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific, working with 16 member countries and aiming to recruit more to the Federation. Currently, he is also the facilitator of IFMSAs Small Working Group on Health Inequities and founding coordinator of the IFMSA Global Health Equity Initiative, two bodies that championed the participation of medical students in the global movement for health equity and action on social determinants of health.

This year 2012, Renzo was invited to become one of the 16 youth commissioners of the Commission on Global Governance for Health, which is a two-year project of the Lancet, University of Oslo, and Harvard Global Health Institute. Over the next two years, the Commission will examine aspects of governance, at both national and global levels, within the health sector and in other sectors that impact health. He is also currently involved in the Universal Health Care Study Group of the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines Manila.

Renzo received numerous awards and recognitions both in the Philippines and abroad, including the Climate Hero Award from UN disaster risk reduction champion and Philippine Senator Loren Legarda in 2010; Outstanding Student Award from the UP Manila in 2009; Honorable Mention in the 2008 International Essay Competition for Young People sponsored by UNESCO; Ayala Young Leader in 2008; and one of the Ten Outstanding Youth of the Province of Laguna in 2005.

In 2009, Renzo represented the Philippines in the International Public Speaking Competition of the English-Speaking Union in London. He also represented young people in various WHO conferences, including the 2008 International Conference on Primary Health Care in Almaty, Kazakhstan organized by WHO and United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), and the 2011 World Conference on Social Determinants of Health in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil organized by WHO and the Government of Brazil. 11

A consistent academic achiever, Renzo was a recipient of the UP Oblation Scholarship, given to top 50 passers of the UP College Admission Test, and the UP Presidential Scholarship. From the UP College of Medicine he received the annual Gawad ng Dekano (Deans Award) for leadership seven times (20052012), and from 2005-2007 was also named University Scholar for academic achievement. In 2012, on his graduation, he was also bestowed the Colleges E. S. Garcia Leadership Award.

In 2005, Renzo graduated valedictorian with high honors from the University of the Philippines Rural High School, garnering the highest academic average in the schools 80-year history. He also finished grade school in Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba as valedictorian.

Since 2005, Renzo has written more than 30 articles for local and international publications and has been a resource speaker and workshop facilitator on a wide range of topics such as youth leadership, environment, health, public policy, and student rights in the Philippines and abroad. He also received training through courses and conferences on various areas such global health, disaster management, sustainable development, youth empowerment, social entrepreneurship, globalization, and journalism. Recently, he attended a summer school in global health challenges at the University of Copenhagen School of Global Health, as well as the International Peoples Health University organized by the Peoples Health Movement and hosted by the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa.

Coming from a musical family, Renzo used to sing for the UP Medicine Choir and the praise and worship team of Rivers Edge Ministries. He has also directed plays and musicals in school and organized public events and youth conferences.

Finally, Renzo loves travelling with a purpose, having visited 16 countries (most of which is work-related) in his four years as a medical student. Moreover, he is now struggling to read his rapidly growing collection of books, spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, reflecting his eclectic taste and unquenchable thirst for knowledge and wisdom.

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Asian Medical Students Association Philippines

Founding Member of the Asian Medical Students Association International and the Philippine National Member Organization of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations

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