After a week-long series of activities that marked the 61st Health Week organized by the University of Ibadan Medical Students’ Association, the dinner night organized on Saturday the 25th of March drew the curtains on this year’s Health Week.
The Health Week, a week organized by UIMSA every tenure, since its inception in 1961 has run almost every year since, barring 2020 when it did not hold because of the pandemic and the restrictions it brought.
This year’s Health Week had the theme, ‘The Business of Medicine: Phases and faces’, and was held between the 19th to 25th of March 2023.
The health week saw activities like:
The rally kicked off the activities of the 61st Health Week and was held in the afternoon of Sunday 19th of March. The rally train went around the University of Ibadan campus and then stopped finally at the ABH quadrangle where the Bonfire went on in full swing.
The symposium was held on Monday, 20th of March, and had the theme, “Doctors as Vendors of Medicine”. It featured guest lectures on the theme and a round table discussion.
On Tuesday, the second round of the IMSG quiz competition was held after which the 2k18, 2k19, 2k21, and seemly outsiders 2k23b, proceeded to the next round and the 2k23a class dropped out of the competition.
On Wednesday, the Community Health Awareness Program (CHAP) Committee organized a community outreach to Aleshinloye Market to sensitize the populace on the campaign to end tuberculosis. After the round in the market, the campaign was even taken on air by the leaders of the CHAP committee who featured on a Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) program on the issues around Tuberculosis.
Thursday was for sports as the activities of the Ulypics were to be concluded on that day. Of notable highlight was the football final which was not able to produce a winner after the 2k21 and 2k19 classes failed to reach a resolution on how the match should proceed after a deadlock in regular time.
UIMSAites took to Filmhouse Cinema at Ventura Mall for the movie night on Friday. Despite the issues that came up, particularly for those who had gone out to watch John Wick 4 – the committee had sold more tickets than its arrangement with Filmhouse could cater for – the movie night was held for most people that Friday.
On Saturday, the Health Week climaxed first with the finals of the IMSG quiz that saw this year’s health week stars, 2k19, emerge winners, and then with the dinner night where UIMSAites had a nice treat to a night in Zamunda. The Dinner which is almost an unofficial first round of send-off party for 2023’s Ibadan ‘June doctors’ was largely a success, and like most activities of the health week, had good memories for UIMSAites.
Also, during the Dinner, the Mr and Miss UIMSA Pageantry was held which saw Chidimma Nwanevu and Nancy Mbey crowned as the new Mr and Miss UIMSA respectively.
With the Health Week gone by, something of particular note is that while like anything UIMSA-related, it was good, the constant romance with ‘African time’ in all activities of the Health Week was a source of displeasure in the hearts of some UIMSAites.
The Health Week is typically organized towards the end of a tenure and traditionally is the last event organized by a set of executives after which their tenure is brought to an end and UIMSA is then brought into another season of politicking which we now anticipate.
Utibe Emmanuel