WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU REGIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Fifty-eighth session Jeju, Republic of Korea 10-14 September 2007
WPRlRC58INGO/3
10 September 2007 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
Agenda item 8
STATEMENT BY MR SUNGKWEON CHO REPRESENTATIVE, ASIA MEDICAL STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION (AMSA) Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates: Representing the Asian Medical Students' Association (AMSA), I would like to express my gratitude on being invited to this Regional Committee Meeting in my homeland Jeju. I am honoured to have this opportunity to talk about AMSA's activities and our contribution to the cancer prevention. AMSA, established in 1985, is the largest organization of medical students within Asia and Oceania. There are 13 Member Regions of which eight are in the WHO Western Pacific Region: Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Our other members include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Asian medical students in United Kingdom. AMSA's most important event is our annual scientific conference, the Asian Medical Students' Conference, AMSC. For nearly three decades, AMSA has been organizing conferences focusing on a wide range of themes such as Community Medicine, Primary Health Care, AIDS, Tropical Medicine, Traditional Medicine and Cancer to raise a few. At the national level, our members organize projects that are related to the theme of AMSC in the aim of fulfilling our vision and mission, which is "Knowledge, Action and Friendship". The theme of the 28 th AMSC that was held in Seoul from 22 to 29 July 2007 was "Cancer - the suffering and prevention". The programme included lectures, discussions, and country paper/poster presentations. We went the hospice for the community service, got to know the mentally and physically suffering during the cancer treatment. All delegates discussed the way of improving the quality of their life afterwards and acknowledged the importance of the pain treatment in the terminal patients. We also had a cancer prevention and promotion campaign, distributed the brochure and explained the importance of the primary and secondary prevention in the cancer. This is the second time for AMSA to participate in a WHO meeting and it has certainly been a rewarding experience. Starting at the nationalliocallevel, we gradually hope to establish a cooperative relationship with WHO, the foremost agency for global health issues, so that we can make AMSA members into better doctors and contribute to building a healthier world for all. Thank you very much for your time and I wish you all the best for a successful Regional Committee Meeting.