Mr. Hassan and his colleagues advisers for young people advise and actively engage with the director general of the WHO and the senior management of the agency, designing and expanding the programs and strategies of the agency.
In an interview with the PK Press Club before the World Health Assembly of 2025 – the highest forum for the United Nations World Health – Mr. Hassan, which was born and erected in Texas, in the United States, explains why it began Icure, a global non -profit organization designed to guarantee that all people receive access to preventive medical screening, and how the treatment for the pandemic could improve vulnerable communities.
This interview has been modified for more clarity and brevity.
Rehman Hassan: 10 years ago, my grandfather died of heart disease. I saw how he was treated differently because of the way he presented himself, as an immigrant and a person of color. He was very competent, but he had limited literacy, and he was not necessarily told what all his options were. I felt that the doctors had tried to rush him into surgery and that they forced him to be anesthetized because they thought he was moving too much, when in fact he was just in pain and uncomfortable.
I am convinced that he did not get the care he deserved and that it really resonated with me, because I wanted to make sure that no one else felt that. I have seen that as a young man, my role could involve working at the community level, to mobilize other young people to promote things like good food or exercise, and defend those who need help.
This is how Icure started, and he turned into an international movement. We have organized a program of scholarships for young people with around 65 young people from around the world, from Vietnam to Qatar via Puerto Rico, discussing the health problems they see and how to solve them, as members of confidence of their communities, to fill the types of information gaps which are very common in many marginalized communities, especially among low -income and immigrants.
PK Press Club: Tell me about your personal experience during the Pandemic COVVI-19?
Rehman Hassan: The pandemic was, for many people around the world, a deeply difficult, scary and intense process. I lived with my grandparents who were immunocompromised, and I knew they were at significant risks. While we had a lot of vaccines in the United States, there was a lot of pandemic disinformation and disinformation; Present it as something that had a low mortality rate and that we could ignore.
In addition, we had a large winter storm in Texas which froze the state for almost two weeks. We did not have access to electricity, gas or water. Our house was flooded and was finally destroyed. This combination of the climate crisis and the pandemic meant that many people, especially in my community, have been left behind and have not received the resources they needed.
Children from Mexico received food baskets during the COVVI-19 pandemic (file, 2022)
PK Press Club: WHO says that the Pandemic Preparation Treaty, if and when it is adopted, will be a breakthrough for health equity and will make a real difference on the ground. Do you agree?
Rehman Hassan: I really think it’s a game changer. I got involved in the processing process through the WHO Youth Council, where I represent an organization [ACT4FOOD, a global youth-led movement to transform food systems] which mainly focuses on access to food, social determinants of health and the way we can promote change in the community.
The text of the treaty states the efforts which must be taken at the level of the community, and each Member State has the obligation to ensure that the most vulnerable have access to support or care, in the context of their pandemic response plans.
There is a commitment to early detection: if we can detect pandemics early, we can make sure that everyone has access to the care and resources they need.
UN news: it is likely that there will be another pandemic of our life. Are we going to manage it better than the last?
Rehman Hassan: We definitely see an acceleration of pandemics and extreme events which ultimately undermine equity.
I think that the World Health Assembly and the Intergovernmental Negotiation Organization for the Pandemic Treaty have done an incredible job to understand what went wrong during the COVVI-19 pandemic, and the previous pandemics, then by looking at how we can create an instrument that will approach these inequalities or will prevent them from performing in the first place.
If the Member States deliver a significant treaty, I think it would improve and considerably facilitate a much better pandemic response than what we have seen during the last time.
