"TUM Sustainability Forum: Science, Reason & Sustainability - Food for Thought for the Time After Corona" - under this title the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty and the TUM Institute for Advanced Study have published a book in which the Department of Sports and Health Sciences is involved with four articles. The publication is intended to link the most diverse disciplines and make it clear that science and its potentials are the engine of progress for modern societies and their sustainable development.
According to the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty, the total of 90 authors want to "encourage readers to deepen the new skills and experiences they have gained in recent weeks, whether in school and university education, in private and professional communication or in production and sales in small or large companies. May the courage to try something new on a scientific basis without long discussions be preserved". Responsible editors are Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Molls, spokesperson of the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty and director of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study, as well as Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Eberspächer, co-spokesperson of the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty.
Prof. Dr. Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz, Dean of the Department of Sports and Health Sciences and Head of the Chair of Preventive Pediatrics, together with Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Molls as well as Prof. Dr. Ingo Borggräfe, Head of Pediatric Epileptology at the LMU Munich, wrote an article on the topic of "Health and Medicine" under the chapter "Food for Thought on Health and Medicine". "This article, which takes the perspective of sustainability in medicine and health, pleads for focusing on the primary and eliminating the superfluous and useless. It draws attention to a scientifically based health care system including prevention, early detection, healing and especially the best care for the chronically ill", the authors summarize the core messages.
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Wacker, Head of the Chair of Sociology of Diversity, together with Prof. Dr. Dr. Andrea Sylvia Winkler from the Center for Global Health and the Neurological Clinic of the TUM as well as Dr. John Humphrey Amuasi from the TUM partner university Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, also under the chapter "Food for Thought on Health and Medicine", devoted themselves to the "One-Health-Approach" with the title "One-Health - out of many! An inclusive approach with future potential". In their article the authors explain how the step from approach to sustainable concept can be made: "The One-Health concept expands global strategies for the health of entire populations or population groups to include multidisciplinary cooperation and communication, with a focus on health at the human-animal-environment interface. In contrast to Planetary Health, the focus is on the human being, but without neglecting the other two health action areas."
Prof. Dr. Stefanie Klug, Head of the Chair of Epidemiology, and Prof. Dr. Marion Kiechle, Director of the Women's Hospital at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar, wrote an article on "Cancer in Africa before and after COVID-19" under the chapter "Food for Thought on Africa". In it, Prof. Klug and Prof. Kiechle argue that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, resources should continue to be invested in the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer in Africa: "Sooner or later the pandemic will become less threatening, infectious diseases are on the retreat, non-communicable diseases, on the other hand, will continue to increase dramatically worldwide and also in Africa. In 2018, 18.1 million people worldwide were newly diagnosed with cancer. It is predicted that as many as 27.5 million people will suffer from cancer in 2040. A large proportion of them will live in less developed countries and also in Africa."
Finally, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann, Head of the Chair of Sport Psychology, together with Dr. Maximilian Huber from the Psychocardiology Group at the German Heart Centre Munich, contributed an essay entitled "Psyche and Environment - Corona as a Chance to Reflect on Essentials" to the publication under the chapter "Food for Thought on Health and Medicine". The two authors describe the COVID-19 pandemic as a so-called "tricky problem" that is difficult or impossible to solve satisfactorily: "The pandemic requires a societal approach and effort. Psychology plays its part in this by, among other things, investigating the continuous interaction between the individual and his or her environment and also showing how important it is, especially in such a situation, to create trust and give optimistic perspectives." In addition, the authors point out that during the coronavirus pandemic - as well as in general - too little attention is paid to mental health.
To the homepage of the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz
Chair of Preventive Pediatrics
Uptown München, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24570
e-mail: praeventive-paediatrie(at)tum.de
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Wacker
Chair of Sociology of Diversity
Uptown München, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24460
e-mail: elisabeth.wacker(at)tum.de
Prof. Dr. Stefanie Klug
Chair of Epidemiology
Uptown München, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24951
e-mail: sekretariat.klug(at)tum.de
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann
Chair of Sport Psychology
Uptown München, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24541
e-mail: juergen.beckmann(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: TUM Senior Excellence Faculty/private