Power & Politics in Global Health
Medsin National Conference 2008, University College London, 25th-26th October.

This year, the Medsin National Conference will revolve around the theme of Power and Politics in Global Health. Our aim is to inspire, empower and arm delegates with the knowledge and skills necessary to fight for global health equity.

Global health inequality is one of the most demanding issue of our age. HIV/AIDS ravages southern Africa, whilst in Europe it is a managed chronic disease. Malaria has been eradicated from most of southern Europe, yet it is still one of the biggest killers of under 5 children in many tropical areas. In 2008 food production reached an all time high, yet famines and food shortages raged across the world.

We all want to eradicate HIV, to stop TB and to have enough food for everyone. Each issue can be fought seperately, head on, by dedicated campaigners. And we are proud of Medsin's work on tackling these issue at home and aboard. Medsin's experience, however, suggests that these problems all share underlying causes, and require many overlapping solutions.

The 2008 Medsin National Conference programme will go straight to the heart of what connects all these issues together. Over 4 Plenaries, 16 speakers and 80 Workshops we aim to take a step back, and consider: Who controls our health? What is the impact of poverty on health? Why are some countries poor and healthy and others rich and sick? Why do pharmaceutical companies bend over backwards to meet the lifestyles of the rich but fail the needs of the poor? Why do some countries provide health for all, and others seem to leave their poor behind? What is the role of the media, religion and ideology in shaping our global health views?

In examining these questions, we hope to enable Medsin members to understand the injustices of global health, and to become leaders in finding future solutions.

Plenaries:

1. Politics
2. Economics
3. Status, inequality and class
4. Civil Society

Confirmed speakers include:

*Clare Short MP (Former Minister for International Development)
*Dr Richard Horton (Editor, the Lancet)
*Prof Nancy Scheper-Hughes (University of California, Berkeley)
*Elizabeth Pisani (Author, "the Wisdom of Whores)
*Martin Wolf (Associate Editor, the Financial Times)
*Prof Maureen Mackintosh (Open University)
*Prof Richard Wilkinson (University of Nottingham)
*Prof Jonathan Wolff (UCL)
*Prof Colin Leys
*And many more

There will also be film screenings, a Global Health Futures Fair and a fantastic world music social.

Tickets are on sale at www.medsin08.org, they're selling fast! There you can also choose your workshops for the conference.

Student tickets are £20 and Non-Student tickets are at £35. Tickets include lunch, the evening social and accommodation if required.

To find out more, please go to www.medsin08.org or contact nationalconference08@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you in soon at UCL.

The Medsin National Conference Committee.