Leaders Gathering Together at Siem Reap for Health Equity
My Visit to One of the Seven Wonders — Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Do you know where you were born, how much you earn, and how well-educated you are could directly impact your health status?
Global health inequity devastates all parts of the world like the long-standing never-ending pandemics. Yet, it remains a stumbling block to the world’s prosperity and solidarity. It is not strenuous to recognize the tremendous gap when health indicators such as maternal mortality, premature deaths, life expectancy, etc are contrasted across countries and regions. These disparities could however be somehow preventable through a transfer of wisdom and know-how with respect for local realities as well as an efficacious execution of health policies and improvements in social determinants of health.
Leadership and mobilizing are magic for change. I have learned about complexity in workshops on navigating complexity and organizing for community development. Unlike “complicated issues” being predictable, health inequities are often multidimensional, heavily influenced by the butterfly effect, and non-deterministic, where leadership comes in. “Everyone is the expert of their own communities.” Instead of making all the decisions themselves, leaders should be the ones with the capabilities to enable others to accomplish what they want with the resources they have. In essence, it is inevitable to have leaders in this highly-fragmented global health infrastructure, who take up responsibilities despite uncertain conditions to empower locals to mobilize their resources for social betterment.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." 💡
Achieving social justice is daunting, yet, with strong leadership and committed actions, the community would lead its way toward the mutual vision of a more equitable universal health outcome. Change doesn't happen overnight, small steps every day matter!
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Nicole Chung
Placement Site: China Medical Board Bangkok
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