EEG hosts virtual discussion on sustainability, healthcare
Speakers reiterate that it has been realised all along that something good also has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic
Each and everything is interconnected that if man remains stubborn and irresponsible, there is no way that biodiversity, health and life would abundantly thrive for the good of the majority.
This was from the topic “Sustainability and Healthcare: The Interrelation” wherein resource speakers Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences-education associate Dean/anatomy professor Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Inuwe, Aster DM Healthcare-aster Volunteers Mobile Medical Services general practitioner Dr Satish Kosuri, and Enova Facilities Business Development and Marketing director Francisco Ramalheira reiterated what has been realised all along that something good also has come out of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
That is, the awareness – from the youth to the elderly – of everyone’s interconnectivity.
But then, more has yet to be done especially on the global scale, they argued from the Zoom webinar on Sunday.
As Inuwe pointed out from the initial part of his presentation, that among his own personal realisations is that “when the chips are down, we all face the challenges together ( wherever we are).” The topic was the first panel discussion for 2021 of the Dubai-based Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) which has an accredited status with the United Nations Convention to Combating Desertification and the United Nations Environment Programme.
EEG is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact which encourages all forms of business organisations worldwide to embed in their respective DNAS the mission and vision towards sustainability and social responsibility.
EEG chairman Habiba Al Mar’ashi stated in her opening remarks that the topic was timely since “the COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives, systems and economies in unimaginable ways. It has vividly demonstrated the urgency to have global conversations questioning the state of our healthcare systems.” She raised some challenges such as the proper disposal and waste management of personal protective equipment particularly face masks, the sanitisers, and all medical items “oten made out of plastic derivatives that cannot be properly recycled,” and which has sparked debates all over the world.
From the interview ater the webinar, Kosuri told Gulf Today it is possible that all medical facilities reduce plastic waste: “With great determination and dedication towards corporate social responsibility on environmental protection; the entire healthcare industry trusting and cooperating with governments and environmental science experts; all medical facilities responsible to protect the environment which include keeping an eye where the use of plastics is reduced; and saying ‘no’ to unwanted, one-time use of plastic medical equipment.” For Inuwe, the solution lies in each and every medical and health allied educational institution which mold the brains and mindset of everyone aspiring to help the sick get well and bounce back healthily.
This solution Inuwe raised, in answer to the question, “How can we use Modern Medicine to impact biodiversity and healthcare?” – of webinar moderator Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company du-sustainability & Well-being head/family Medicine & Occupational Health consultant Dr. Mansoor Habib.
“There is something else apart from the cold phase of clinical training. You start at the foundation,” Inuwe said, citing that the curricula and skills training modules of each and every medical and allied healthcare school or university must also orient their students on the importance and significance of, as well as care and concern for biodiversity (all living organisms), the environment, and sustainability (ability to meet everyone’s essential needs without sacrificing any aspect of the environment and economy for the future generations’ sake.) Inuwe added that medical and health allied students must be trained to think “out-of-the-box” not only to solve the simplest and worst of wounds, injuries and illnesses but also how to solve other aspects of life that they may find out as the cause/s of their patients’ malady/ies.
From the Kosuri interview, he said biodiversity, healthcare and sustainability are interrelated: “Health is one of the basic indices of sustainable development and biodiversity is the base for human health.”