Mr. Hassan and his fellow Youth Councillors advise and actively interact with the WHO Director-Basic 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 might 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 way in which 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 docs tried to hurry him into surgical procedure and that they compelled him to be anaesthetized as a result of they believed he was transferring round an excessive amount of, when in truth he was simply in ache and uncomfortable.
I’m satisfied that he didn’t get the care that he deserved and that basically resonated with me, as a result of I needed to make it possible for nobody else felt that manner. I noticed that, as an adolescent, my function might contain working at a neighborhood degree, mobilising different younger folks to advertise issues like good weight loss 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 the best way to tackle them, as trusted members of their communities, to bridge the sorts of data 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 vital 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 fee and that we might 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, fuel 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 neighborhood, have been left behind and didn’t obtain the sources that they wanted.
© UNICEF
Kids 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 undoubtedly suppose it’s a sport changer. I obtained concerned with the treaty course of by way of the WHO Youth Council, the place I characterize 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 will promote change on the neighborhood degree.
The textual content of the treaty spells out the efforts that have to be taken at a neighborhood degree, and every member state has an obligation to make it possible for essentially 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 will detect pandemics early, then we will make sure that everybody has entry to the care and sources they want.
UN Information: It’s possible that there will likely be one other pandemic in our lifetimes. Will we handle it higher than the final one?
Rehman Hassan: We’re undoubtedly 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 achieved an unimaginable job of understanding what went improper through the COVID-19 pandemic, and former pandemics, after which taking a look at how we will craft an instrument that can tackle these inequities or stop them from occurring within the first place.
If member states ship a significant treaty, I believe it could considerably enhance and facilitate a significantly better pandemic response than what we noticed throughout final time.
