OLGA
MACÍAS MARTÍNEZ

Olga Macías Martínez is a surgeon from La Salle University. She carried out research activities at the Sarcomas Clinic of Oncological Services at Mexico City’s Medical Center XXI.

PROJECT

The objective of the project is to develop sustainable environmental practices in the planning and generation of the congress of the Mexican Association of General Surgery as well as in its daily processes.

MOTIVATION FOR AND COMMITMENT TO CREATING A BETTER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PLANET

Medical scientific events are a pillar for the widespread of knowledge, an interconnection site with the pharmaceutical industry and a platform to establish links among colleagues to develop projects in favor of science. Due to the advancement of medicine and its specialization, more groups have emerged to cover the different areas of interest and therefore, more scientific events are organized at different levels having many of them large number of members. Thus, they have turned into massive attendance events. 

The main motivation that inspires this project is the observation of massive amount of resources that are used during medical meetings. Annually hundreds of meetings are organized in the country and thousands in the world. This leads to a huge displacement of resources and people resulting in a negative environmental impact in the venues for the meetings.

Medicine advances in giant steps thanks to the development of science and technology, which has allowed us to have invaluable satisfactions when facing the daily challenges that the profession entails. However, the other side of the coin is to face the health challenges derived from the problem of climate change on populations, knowing in advance that women are the most vulnerable group. 

Based on the above mentioned, it is urgent to look at medicine with more sustainable eyes, and therefore it is a priority to raise awareness about the contamination that emanates from the congresses and to work to implement the necessary strategies to transform congresses into environmentally healthier events.