Peace Building Through Health, and Humanitarian Objectives

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton @ United Nations Office at Geneva, November 2019 (Palais de Nations, UN Headquarters, Geneva Peach Week)

“Mistakenly, we think of peace as the opposite of war. When we were schoolkids, we had to match the items in column A with their antonyms in column B. Tall – short, big – small, peace – war, and so on. But is peace truly the opposite of war? If a country is not at war, is it definitely at peace? In the case of Mexico, it really isn’t so.

In recent years, war has sometimes been described as a public health issue. A global one. Certainly, when you move from war to peace, a region’s health status starts improving. But can health be a tool for peace? There is evidence that it can. The number of attacks on not only humanitarian workers but also healthcare providers has grown. Why is that? Because dictators, martial-law governments, terrorists, and aggressors know that such professions can be used as antiwar weapons. Plus, peace and health cannot exist without one another. So, I’m here to say that even if peace is not always the opposite of war, we can see health in that role…”. Iris spoke as a President of the Interdisciplinary Committee of HAPSc, read the full speech here: Peace Building through Health-UN

View the presentation here: PEACE BUILDING THROUGH HEALTH

Climate Change: Why humanity is in Danger?

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton @ Proto Thema, October 10, 2019

If we focus on the effects of climate change on our health and on our own lives, then citizens and politicians may realize how urgent action is needed to address them.

Read the full interview in Greek here: Κλιματική αλλαγή γιατί κινδυνεύει η ανθρωπότητα

AI in Politics and Digital Diplomacy

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton @ POLITEIA: An International Conference of Political Scientists,  27-29 Sept. 2019, Athens, Greece.

Most people think that AI is coming down the track at high speed and it will arrive in the near future. They are wrong! AI is here, now, and unless we make some rules pretty soon we will lose the game. Of course it depends what game is being played and whose side you are on!

Read the speech in English here: Digital Diplomacy

Read the speech in Greek: Ψηφιακή Διπλωματία: Τεχνητή Νοημοσύνη στην πολιτική. Ευλογία ή κατάρα; Επείγει ή όχι;

Parenting: Raising our children as friends and partners

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton @ CNN, February 25, 2019

In my books, I have dealt with many different subjects, but they all have human health as their common denominator, the physical and/or mental part of it. From the environment and the economy to our nutrition and the upbringing of our children, everything is linked to human health and psychology. A fundamental conclusion about life to which I have reached is the deepest, most essential and holistic meaning of the verse “A man reaps what he sows”. In the case of upbringing, we try to teach our kids how to love others without teaching them how to love their own selves. But the former cannot happen without the latter. Love, understanding, respect need to be sown and cultivated with much care and attention.

Read the full interview in Greek here:

Read the full interview in English here: Parenting_Interview @ CNN (English Translation)

More information on the Book “Practical Powerful Parenting” here.

Lifestyle and Cardiovascular Diseases Appearance Risk: Piraeus University Health Economic and Management Laboratory research results.

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton, Athanasios Vozikis, Marialenna Kaliakouda, Antonis Sabrakos, Simos Sidiropoulos @ 2nd Pan-Hellenic Conference on Technology, Economy and Management “Advancements in Healthcare, new applications, policies and challenges”. 
LabHEM University of Piraeus  and DigiTHEA Lab Digital Health Applications & Economics Analytics

Cardiovascular diseases could be characterized as a modern-day epidemic; one indication is that cardiovascular diseases rank first on the list of diseases which lead to fatality percentages in both developed and developing countries. Greece holds one of the highest positions on the list of the most affected countries.

This research study aims at examining and analyzing young people’s dietary and other habits related to the risk factors of the diseases in question. The research consists of a print questionnaire that was completed by a random sample of 1,408 Piraeus University students during the academic year 2017-2018.

Read the abstract here: Research Abstract

View the full presentation in greek here: Lifestyle and cardiovascular diseases appearance risk

Health Policies About Rare Disease

The case of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Myasthenic patients demographic data analysis and study of their life quality.

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton, Athanasios Vozikis, Eleana Simoni @ the 14th Biennial Athenian Policy Forum Conference 2018

MG is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease caused by a defect in the action of a chemical called acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions, which transfers the stimuli from the nerves to the muscles through said chemical and causes weakness in the skeletal muscles of multiple severity levels.

View the full presentation here: HEALTH POLICIES ABOUT RARE DISEASES: THE CASE OF MYASTHENIA GRAVIS (MG)

URBAN SAFETY AND HEALTH: A Rapidly – Changing Setting 

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton @ United Nations, Geneva – 2017

Urban safety is an important political, social and economic issue of today. More precisely, what’s important is the lack of it on an international level. It is a multifaceted problem generated and aggravated from multiple fronts which make it impossible to encapsulate in a ten minute speech, however I will try.

Read the full speech here: Urban Safety and Health Speech

View the presentation here: Urban Safety and Health Presentation

The past and the future of medicine

Iris Efthymiou- Egleton @ the International School of Monaco – 16 December 2015

Guest speaker, at the International School of Monaco.
Ancient Greek, Indian, Iranian and Chinese Medicine.
The past and the future of medicine.