Mr. Hassan and his fellow Youth Councillors advise and actively have interaction with the WHO Director-Common and the company’s senior management, designing and increasing the company’s programmes and methods.
In an interview with UN Information forward of the 2025 World Well being Meeting – the UN’s highest discussion board for international well being – Mr. Hassan, who was born and raised in Texas, USA, explains why he began iCure, a world non-profit organisation designed to make sure that all folks obtain entry to preventative medical screening, and the way the pandemic treaty may radically enhance look after susceptible communities.
This interview has been edited for readability and brevity.
Courtesy of Rehman Hassan
Rehman Hassan: 10 years in the past, my grandfather handed away from coronary heart illness. I noticed how he was handled in a different way due to the best way that he introduced himself, as an immigrant and an individual of color. He was very educated, however he had restricted literacy, and he wasn’t essentially advised what all his choices have been. I felt that the medical doctors tried to hurry him into surgical procedure and that they compelled him to be anaesthetized as a result of they believed he was shifting round an excessive amount of, when the truth is he was simply in ache and uncomfortable.
I’m satisfied that he didn’t get the care that he deserved and that actually resonated with me, as a result of I needed to guarantee that nobody else felt that manner. I noticed that, as an adolescent, my position may contain working at a group degree, mobilising different younger folks to advertise issues like good weight-reduction plan or train, and advocate for individuals who need assistance.
That’s how iCure began, and it has blossomed into a global motion. We’ve hosted a youth fellowship programme with round 65 younger folks from all around the world, from Vietnam to Qatar to Puerto Rico, discussing the well being points they’re seeing and tips on how to deal with them, as trusted members of their communities, to bridge the sorts of knowledge gaps which can be quite common in lots of marginalized communities, particularly amongst low earnings folks and immigrants.
UN Information: Inform me about your private expertise through the COVID-19 pandemic?
Rehman Hassan: The pandemic was, for many individuals the world over, a deeply tough, scary, intense course of. I used to be residing with my grandparents who have been immunocompromised, and I knew that they have been at important danger. While we had a number of vaccines within the US, there was a number of pandemic disinformation and misinformation; presenting it as one thing that had a low mortality price and that we may ignore.
As well as, we had a significant winter storm in Texas that froze the state for nearly two weeks. We didn’t have entry to electrical energy, gasoline or water. Our home was flooded and finally was destroyed. This mix of the local weather disaster and the pandemic meant that many individuals, particularly in my group, have been left behind and didn’t obtain the sources that they wanted.
© UNICEF
Youngsters in Mexico obtained meals baskets through the COVID-19 pandemic (file, 2022)
UN Information: The WHO says that the pandemic preparedness treaty, if and when it’s adopted, will likely be a breakthrough for well being fairness and make an actual distinction on the bottom. Do you agree?
Rehman Hassan: I positively suppose it’s a sport changer. I bought concerned with the treaty course of by means of the WHO Youth Council, the place I symbolize an organisation [ACT4FOOD, a global youth-led movement to transform food systems] that primarily focuses on entry to meals, the social determinants of well being and the way we are able to promote change on the group degree.
The textual content of the treaty spells out the efforts that should be taken at a group degree, and every member state has an obligation to guarantee that probably the most susceptible get entry to assist or care, as a part of their pandemic response plans.
There’s a dedication to early detection: if we are able to detect pandemics early, then we are able to be sure that everybody has entry to the care and sources they want.
UN Information: It’s probably that there will likely be one other pandemic in our lifetimes. Will we handle it higher than the final one?
Rehman Hassan: We’re positively seeing an acceleration of pandemics and excessive occasions that finally undermine fairness.
I believe that the World Well being Meeting and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Physique for the pandemic treaty have executed an unbelievable job of understanding what went mistaken through the COVID-19 pandemic, and former pandemics, after which taking a look at how we are able to craft an instrument that may deal with these inequities or stop them from taking place within the first place.
If member states ship a significant treaty, I believe it might considerably enhance and facilitate a a lot better pandemic response than what we noticed throughout final time.
