One Card for Meds in a Rural Village of Sichuan, China: A Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Commitment to Action
Carman Mark and her teammates, Ronald Ling and Tammy Cheung, Master of Public Health students of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, submitted their commitment regarding disaster response and resilience to the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) and had joined the CGI U conference held at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona from 21 to 23 March 2014. After the conference, they had then joined the CCOUC health intervention mission to a rural Yi minority village in Sichuan Province from 28 March to 1 April 2014 to establish and evaluate the implementation of the Commitment.
The main objective of the Commitment of Carman’s team is to ensure patients with chronic conditions could sustain their access to medication throughout the disaster cycle.
The lack of access to medication among patients with chronic diseases is not uncommon when disaster strikes. One of the major obstacles behind is the poor access to medical history of patients among health care workers. Recognizing the challenge, Carman’s team has decided to issue handy medical record cards for patients with chronic conditions. They are now developing and would later implement a health record system using thermal rewritable card. Only a standalone card writer is required without the need of having a sophisticated computer system. Carman’s team believed that this card could be used to assist the propagation of the prescription process such that patients could sustain their treatment throughout the disaster cycle.
Joining the CCOUC Ethnic Minority Health Project Team, Carman’s team headed to a rural Sichuan village for needs assessment. In-depth interview with stakeholder, focus groups with patients having chronic conditions together with quantitative survey covering areas regarding chronic conditions, access to health care and disaster preparedness were administered.
The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) brings together college students to address global challenges with practical, innovative solutions. CGI U participants do more than simply discuss problems – they take concrete steps to solve them by creating action plans, building relationships, participating in hands-on workshops, and following up with CGI U as they complete their projects. Since 2008, students have made more than 4,000 Commitments to Action. Previous CGI U meetings have taken place at Tulane University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Miami, the University of California at San Diego, the George Washington University, and Washington University in St. Louis, and have convened more than 5,500 students from over 800 schools, 135 countries, and all 50 states.
(To learn more, visit www.cgiu.org)
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