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PRINCIPLES REGARDING INTERNATIONAL HEALTH

The American Medical Student Association:

1.             SUPPORTS the World Health Organization’s (WHO) program of “Health for All in the 21st Century” (2005) established at the International Conference on Primary Health Care held in Alma-Alta , USSR in 1978.  In this we recognize the central role of primary health care in attaining this goal of a level of health for all people of the world that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life.  There is a deeper understanding of international health and medical problems worldwide;

2.             SUPPORTS the Program of Action developed at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994.  In this we recognize that population issues are tied to sustainable development and sustaining the environment and must be addressed in conjunction with efforts to reduce poverty and improve public health.  We further recognize that successful population stabilization requires empowerment of women to exercise reproductive choice by promoting their economic, social, legal and educational equality.  We encourage public and private investment in universal access to reproductive health care and family planning services; (1995)

3.             RECOGNIZES the importance of United States policy with regard to the reproductive and sexual health of developing nations and therefore:

a.             OPPOSES the United States’ “gag rule” policies that implicitly or expressly prohibit the inclusion of abortion counseling or services in any family planning clinics or counseling services in developing countries that receive US funds; (2006)

b.             OPPOSES restriction of funding for HIV/AIDS in developing countries to those programs that deal only with abstinence-based sex education, and BELIEVES education about abstinence, but also protection, to be imperative; (2006)

c.             ENCOURAGES the United States to take the lead in developing an affordable, widely available microbicide that allows people to discreetly protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. (2006)

4.             RECOGNIZES that although the health and medical principles of other countries may be different from those of the United States, many of the principles of AMSA, as stated in the Preamble, Purposes and Principles, are applicable to other countries;

5.             CONDEMNS the actions of those multinational corporations that have erected double standards, those in the United States and those abroad; that are engaged in manufacturing practices in impoverished nations so as to escape occupational and environmental safety regulations in other countries; that seek out cheap labor markets where workers are prohibited from organizing, thus imposing harms on people within the United States who lose jobs and health care coverage, and people in poor countries who are offered unsafe, substandard work; (1999)

6.             In the interest of maintaining AMSA’s effectiveness as a national organization and spokesperson for its members, URGES that  resolutions concerning AMSA’s Principles and Purposes on international health shall have as their primary goal health care and medical issues; (1985)

7.             URGES U.S. physicians and medical students to work for social justice and CONDEMN any medical organization or system that perpetuates or supports oppressive ideologies of any kind, here or abroad.

8.             RECOGNIZES the promotion of world health as an important and justifiable humanitarian concern. (1986)

9.             RECOGNIZES that research, education of local health care providers and application of appropriate levels of medical technology are important factors in improving health of a community; RECOGNIZES that the United States and other developed countries have both human and technical resources to aid the development of such research, education and technology in developing countries and SUPPORTS the free exchange of medical resources (including information, technology and materials) between all countries regardless of political considerations. (1997)

10.           STRONGLY SUPPORTS the notion of Comprehensive Primary Health Care, and URGES the U.S. government and the international aid industry (WHO/UNICEF, World Bank and IMF, Bilateral Aid Agencies and NGOs) to support the efforts of developing nations to strengthen their internal health care systems and educational institutions by opposing structural adjustment programs that defund health and educational infrastructures; and URGES these institutions to push for loan forgiveness and other measures to alleviate the oppressive economic debt which contributes to unacceptably high morbidity and mortality rates in heavily indebted nations. (1986) (1999)

11.           BELIEVES that international health programs should be created with the goal of including input from members of the developing country that will be affected by the program, as well as including  participation by educational, voluntary and private organizations. (1997)

12.           ENCOURAGES medical schools of the United States to commit resources to the development and incorporation of curricula related to problems of international health, especially in the fields of community medicine, primary care medicine, tropical medicine, parasitology, epidemiology, and health information systems, public health, environmental health, health-care organization and management of health policy. (1986)

13.           RECOGNIZES that field experience plays a critical role in the education and training of health professionals entering the field of international health, and ENCOURAGES organizations and associations with interests in international health work to commit resources to the development and implementation of international health field experience for physicians-in-training. (1986)

14.           SUPPORTS increased involvement of health-care providers, including physicians-in-training, in the field of international health. (1986)

15.           OBJECTS TO action by the U.S. Congress which has curtailed assessed payments to the World Health Organization and URGES that the United States maintain its financial support of the WHO at the full assessed level as determined by the WHO Constitution, become current on its financial obligations by paying in full all funding in arrears, and further URGES the U.S. Congress to make additional voluntary contributions to enable the WHO to carry on the work planned by its Executive Board and the World Health Assembly. (1988) (1990)

16.           RECOGNIZES the special health-care needs of refugees, (those that have been dislocated from their traditional living environment and dispossessed due to war, famine and economic and/or political instability), such as tropical infectious diseases and post traumatic stress disorder, and strongly urges that federal and state government allocate adequate funds to meet health and relocation needs. (1990)

17.           SUPPORTS international experiences that recognize the long-term needs of the communities in which they are serving; this includes but is not limited to:

a.             Long-term involvement, preferably permanent, but at a minimum annual delivery of aid through services and supplies. (1998)

b.             Projects that involve members of the local community in health care and, where applicable, work to increase those community members' medical knowledge. (1998)

c.             Projects with the ultimate goal of independent operation by the local community with minimal or no international support. (1998)

d.             Projects that work to further public health initiatives within the community which will improve the overall health of the community even when a short-stay, annually visiting medical team is not present. (1998)

18.           ENCOURAGES medical projects in developing countries to include in their goals continuing medical education for community members or members of the host country through educational exchange or through delivery of health education directly, including instruction and giving relevant books and supplies which would enhance this education. (1998)

19.           SUPPORTS the idea that students can learn in international sites, provided there is appropriate mentorship by trained nurses and physicians, (preferably health care providers who are also local community members), and that there is accountability for the students actions and impact on the local community. (1998)

20.           SUPPORTS any international experience that is created as an exchange between peers — a U.S. student exchanging places with a foreign student of similar educational level who can come to the United States to learn clinical medicine.  RECOGNIZES that, whenever possible, exchanges are the best way to promote the principles of international health. (1998)

21.           OBJECTS to groups, organizations, individual practitioners and students that force a poor community or impoverished individuals to accept beliefs/"traditions" that are not their own in order to receive life saving assistance, economic development or education. (2007)

22.           SUPPORTS the Cuban Humanitarian Trade Act as introduced in the House (June 18, 1997) and Senate (November 6, 1997). (1998)

23.           URGES the president and Congress to work together to lift the embargo on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba . (1998)

24.           SUPPORTS the purchase of "Union Made" apparel. (2001)

25.           SUPPORTS cultural, religious and traditional preservation. (2007)

26.           OPPOSES proselytization as a condition for medical treatment, medical services and the disbursement of medication. (2007)

27.           RECOGNIZES the positive contributions of faith-based humanitarian groups and organizations. (2007)