Newsletter 238 - Wednesday, December 16, 2009

National News and Events

Any Other Business

Save the date - activities weekend - 23rd/24th January

A weekend of taking national and local campaigns & projects further! THIS IS NOW TO HAPPEN IN LONDON!

Swapping of ideas, practices, and resources

Updates & achievements of local and national activities

Campaigns & Projects Training

Improving current practices - e.g. AB fund, Medsin magazine

Exploring and Evaluating campaigns and projects that relate and thus can work together

+ your suggestions

+Fun & socialising!

More details to follow very soon, for now put the date in your diary.

Everyone welcome!

Sarah (Vice President Projects) & Erica (Campaigns Director)

Fundraise for Medsin from your desk!

No, this isn't one of those too good to be true 'make £200 an hour from your sofa' adverts - but it is almost as good!

Elly, our AMAZING VPE has set up search to give http://www.search2give.co.uk/support?Medsin-UK

This is a search engine that raises money for Medsin every time you try and find something on the internet. (And our equally amazing Webmaster, Yonny, says the search engine is top notch!)

So whether you're searching, 'HIV', 'Climate change' or 'asylum seekers in the UK', or 'cinema times in Leicester', 'free TV online' or 'how to make a paper robin hood hat', you can be making money for Medsin.

Pretty cool no!?

Medsin needs Media support!

Do you want to be pivotal in making Medsin-UK a Force to be Reckoned With?

Is your creative flair bursting to be let out?

Do you want to work with an incredible Publicity Director?

Then we have the role for you! Media Support Director!

Still interested? Adobe literate? Great organisational skills? Want a taste of what it's like to be on the NC? Only need a couple of hours of your time a week.

Then here is an amazing opportunity to get some good experience in publicity and media, use your abilities and build on your skills!

Contact me, Elly vpe@medsin.org, and MC on publicity@medsin.org with you queries, and interest!

Do it! We need you!!

Climate Change, Health and Medsin at COP 15 climate change negotiations

A small team of Medsiners will be arduously working at and remotely on the Copenhagen climate change conference underway right now and running until the 18th of December. Governments are currently negotiating an agreement that could safeguard or wreck the future of the planet and its people; it's vital that the health community is represented at the talks to ensure there is representation of the risk to health and our future patients.

We leave this Friday to do some exciting health and climate work and will consist of Sunil Bhopal (Leeds), Steve Halpin (Leeds), Guppi Bola (Oxford) and Jonny Currie (Medsin-UK) along with a bunch of other superstars from Climate and Health Council and the IFMSA - so we won't be short of stories to tell!

Interested to hear more?

Visit http://www.medsin.org/cop to find out how you can follow blog posts, interview, ideas for actions via an e-mailing list, and further resources for your interest!

Finally! Guppi (guppi@ukycc.org) have 10 SCC tickets to Copenhagen (£70) leaving Friday morning and returning Monday next week. If you're interested in joining us - get in touch!

Campaign of the Month - Healthy Planet

IF YOU HAVE 3 MINUTES:

Educate: watch this video on climate change and health - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249obge8M1I

Act: go around your house and turn off at the mains all the sockets that aren’t being used, turn off any lights or appliances you aren’t using, and see if you can’t turn your thermostat one degree lower – put on a jumper and more socks instead!

Advocate: Read and SIGN the PLEDGE of the Climate and Health Council that health professional delegates will present at Copenhagen!- [http://www.climateandhealth.org/pledge/index.asp](http://www.climateandhealth.org/pledge/index.asp0

IF YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES:

Educate: watch this video on climate change and health http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0905/09051401

Act: have a flick through this Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NHS http://www.sdu.nhs.uk/page.php?page_id=94 – do you understand the 10 vision statements of the 10 areas of carbon reduction?

Advocate: send the Letter to your Dean (on page 4 here!) to get your medical school on board with climate change and health!

IF YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES

Educate: read this excellent summary of the global health impacts of climate change http://www.uclmedsin.org/resources/library/climatechangeworldhealthday.pdf - what do you think is the most severe health threat from climate change?

Act: go to this governmental website http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/actonco2/home.html and measure your own carbon footprint (see the “act on Co2 carbon calculator on the right”) – what does the website suggest you to do to lower your footprint?

Advocate: send a personalised message to your MP on climate change and health; find you MP here http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/; you may want to use the following framework for your message

1. Argue the case for climate change and health. By this I mean the negative health impacts in the UK, the health co-benefits of policy change, and the duty of care to the population that the government and health professionals have to mitigate climate change

2. Ask for your MP to write a letter arguing this case to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, urging stronger climate policy

3. Ask your MP to write a letter arguing this case to the Secretary of State for Health, urging that they make climate change a higher priority in their health agenda and that they take climate change – both preparing for the health impacts and lowering carbon footprints – into account in all their deliberations

4.Ask for your MP to join the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group (details here http://www.carbonneutral.com/features/appg.asp)

5. Ask for your MP to write back to you with feedback on what they did and on their responses

Doctors' petition : "Stop the Administrative Detention of Children and Families"

This doctors' petition is being publicly launched today. The last doctors’ petition of that Medical Justice co-ordinated attracted over 700 doctors’ signatures. This petition is expected to get more signatures. Please circulate and ask doctors to sign. Signature so far include ;

Lord Alderdice
Iona Heath, President, Royal College of General Practitioners
Sir Iain Chalmers
Professor Cornelius Katona Consultant Psychiatrist
Dr Jonathan Fluxman, GP
Dr Nick Lessof, Consultant Paediatrician
Dr Frank Arnold, Clinical Director, Medical Justice

To learn more about the petition and to sign, visit http://gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-administrative-detention-of-children-and-families.html

The 4th Issue of Medsin's Global Health Magazine

This issue will cover the theme of the 2010 Global Health conference - 2050 - A Healthy Future? Are you a budding writer? Do you want something to occupy you during the cold winter nights? Then get writing....

Do you have a vision of Global Health in the future you would like to share? How will the current political climate affect the future? What effects of global warming will we be experiencing in forty years time? Submit articles to magazine@medsin.org

Continuing with the editions of the previous issue, the 4th issue will also include features on Medsin branches, Projects, Campaigns and other activities - so if you want to tell the network about any of these then get writing.

Articles can be essay form, interviews, or whatever! And please do include pictures Deadline for submission is 31st Jan 2010 GET WRITING!!!!

Articles should be no longer than 2000 words. If you would like to help out with the editing, fund raising or design of the magazine, then let me know - magazine@medsin.org

Any questions about what or how to write just email committee@medsin.org or magazine@medsin.org

Campaigns News

This week news about the HIV patent pool update: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/15/unitaid-aids-drug-patent-pool

Also news furthering the argument for the affect of climate change on health: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2009/1208/1224260292149.html

Activities Board Fund - applications now open!

There is £500 up for grabs , £250 for campaigns and £250 for projects! The minimum amount you can apply for is £25 and the maximum is £250.

Please note that applications will not be considered if they are to fund food, drink, social events, transportation costs or conference attendance, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Please find further information, the application form, and scoring guidelines on the website: http://www.medsin.org/activitiesboard

The closing date for applications is now: Tuesday January 30th 23.59. Please send your applications to: committee@medsin.org

If you have any further questions then please contact - Sarah vpprojects@medsin.org or Erica campaigns@medsin.org

MedsINFORMATION

Christmas for me is a time to relax and switch off with my family but also a time that I think more about the disadvantaged in this country

I'm sure you're aware that Medsin have a range of projects that work with homeless people in this country. If you've ever wanted to find out more here is some information for you to have a look through.

This document published by UCL and St Mungos the homelessness charity outlines the connections between health and homelessness:http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview/stmungoshealthexec

This film from homelessness charity Shelter highlights that the credit crunch is resulting in people from all walks of life being made homeless: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=Z8fVHNbx9go

Inequality is evident across the UK. This page demonstrate the variation in homelessness across England - http://www.crisis.org.uk/policywatch/pages/englandgeographicalvariation.html

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