The Students’ International Health Association (SIHA) is a non-profit organization funded in 1989 by Barbara Russel, a medical student at the University of Alberta. From its inception, SIHA’s projects have been based on the “Health for All” slogan promoted by the 1978 International Conference on Primary Health Care in Alma-Ata. SIHA’s recent projects have been structured around the goals goals of reducing child mortality, combating malaria, HIV, and other diseases. In order to achieve these goals, education is the avenue through which SIHA has chosen to focus most of its efforts. By delivering local, grassroots seminars on disease prevention and basic care, along with the distribution of health products that aid in prevention, SIHA aims to reduce the social and economic hardships presented by major global health threats.
The primary goal of SIHA is to effect real and sustainable progress in the greatest health threats affecting the developing world. Our other goals include: