IFMSA-NL

Act4Health

Act4Health is IFMSA-NL's advocacy group for Planetary Health. We are committed to a green, just and healthy future through our e.g. educational materials, activism, lectures and through writing practical guides and opinion pieces. We often do this in collaboration with other parties and we like to enter into dialogue with educators and policy makers. The climate and ecological crises are the biggest health threat of the 21st century, multiplying current health inequities, but urgent climate action and health- and justice-centred transitions also offer many opportunities to create a healthier world.

Public Affairs

We are committed to putting the health effects of climate change and ecological disruptions at the center of its public debate and policy approaches. After all, the climate crisis is a health crisis. We have been engaged at local, national and international scales, from panel discussions to co-organizing Health Blocs at climate marches to policy advocacy at UNFCCC COP.

Sustainable and resilient healthcare systems

We are committed to aid the sustainability transition within the healthcare industry to reduce the negative health impact of the sector, and create climate-resilient health systems that are prepared for changing disease patterns, and that harness the opportunities of a preventative and health-in-all-policies approach to health.

Primum non nocere - first do no harm

Education

We aim for the integration of Planetary Health in all health curricula. This is how we educate well-informed and future-proof healthcare professionals. We brought stakeholders together at an online conference in 2019, and since then have created and taught our own educational materials at various universities, and engaged in advocacy at a local, national and international scale.

Our resources

As an advocacy group, we have (co-)written several guides for educational integration, tools for projects organizers, letters to administrators, and other documents which can be downloaded here.