Rahul Makam | McCall MacBain Foundation Scholar

BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (HONOURS)

As a medical student I am particularly concerned about future challenges to health.

Climate change poses a major health threat - although it also offers opportunities for benefits through action. Right now there is an absence of significant leadership in New Zealand on this topic. In future I want to contribute and advocate for political action on the health-specific harms of climate change. As well, serious health inequity exists in NZ, with Maori and Pacific peoples experiencing disparate health outcomes due to systemic disadvantage. Refugee and immigrant populations also experience this. Research on overseas settler societies shows that organisations which foster intercultural exchange and dialogue among immigrant and indigenous communities develop strong, mutually-beneficial community relationships. I want to contribute in the fostering of these relationships in New Zealand, where such leadership is scarce.

Sponsor: McCall MacBain Foundation

Mentor: Professor Alistair Woodward, Epidemiologist and public health doctor, author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; delivered the Redfern Oration 2018.