Sustainable development goals: a call for future internal medicine

Abstract

2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement is the main challenge in order to design a sustainable future society. SDG 3 ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, focusing on prevention and treatment of communicable diseases (CDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Moreover, access to care, affordable drugs, and vaccines is crucial to improve quality of life leaving no one behind. Internal medicine can answer to the United Nations (UN) universal call by taking action both on infectious disease burden and on NCDs challenge, enabling prevention strategies and treatments, providing new drugs and ensuring accessible care for all. Furthermore, thanks to internist holistic and patient-centered approach, together with a multidisciplinary strategy, misallocation of economic and human resources, and medical errors due to healthcare fragmentation could be avoided. Nonetheless, a syndemic approach taking into account economic, social, and environmental dimensions of health will become fundamental for healthcare systems design. In this framework, internal medicine will be crucial giving a comprehensive patient-centered perspective, coordinating multidisciplinary team interventions, and contributing to sustainable healthcare systems.

Keywords: Healthcare; Internal medicine; Patient-centered approach; SDGs; Sustainability.

Fig.1

The three pillars of Internal Medicine: medical education, clinical practice and research through a holistic approach [9]

Fig.2

Main SDGs mentioned in the text that are involved in Internal Medicine; Starting from the top right in clockwork direction: “No poverty”, “Zero Hunger”, “Good health and well-being”, “Quality education”, “Gender equality”, “Clean water and sanitation”, “Decent work and economic growth”, “Sustainable cities and communities”, “Responsible consumption and production”, “Climate action”, “Life below water”, and “Life on land” [6];[8];[9]