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World Health Organization

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Created in 1948, with the sole goal of coordinating health related affairs inside of the United Nation organ, and through international cooperating with improving health conditions world wide, the WHO commission deals with subjects such as epidemic control,  

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The Official CCBMUN will be covering two topics, 'Health repercussions  of black-market medications.' and 'Measures to strengthen global pandemic response systems (COVID-19)​'.

drug standardization to an international level and sanitary conventions.

Topics

Model 

Topic 1: Health repercussions  of black-market medications

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Topic 2: Measures to strengthen global pandemic response systems (COVID-19)

Presidents

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President: Alena Múnera 

School: Colegio Colombo Británico

President: Helena López

School: Colegio Colombo Británico

Dear Delegates,

 

The World Health Organization, established on 7th of April, 1948, is nowadays one of the most essential committees of the United Nations. It guarantees the well being of all people, by directing, guarding and coordinating international health systems within the UN. With 194 Member States across six regions and more than 150 offices, the aim of the World Health Organization is to achieve a healthier future for every citizen around the globe. This organization addresses a wide range of issues including combatting communicable and non-communicable diseases, improving health systems, and improving citizens' health.

 

Delegates, take full advantage of this year’s model to embrace your research, debate, communication, social and critical thinking skills, and become part of one of today’s most pressing situations. We expect to see the best version of yourselves during these three hard-working days, with active participation, pertinent interventions, and great enthusiasm towards the topics being discussed. Overall, we hope you learn and enjoy your time as a delegate while debating these crucial topics that we have chosen for you. Good luck!

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CCBMUNXVIII

Day 1

Health repercussions as a result of black-market medication

By: Isabella Cadavid

The topic of Health repercussions of black-market medications was debated in the first day of the CCBMUNXVIII World Health Organization commission. This problem occurs when people don’t have the access to a prescription or to a medicine, so they buy medicines that are sold illegally in the black market. People usually acquire medicines from the black market because they are very low-cost, and they offer more economic alternatives for expensive drugs such as insulin, diazepam, etc. The problem with this is that there is no regulation for the supply chain, as a result, the medicine may not even work and it can aggravate someone’s condition, also, people may become addicted to some drugs since they are the ones managing their doses. 

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Starting with the opening speeches, most of the delegates stated their purpose of finding a solution to this problem as they stand against this issue. The delegate of India thinks they can handle the problem without eliminating the black market, instead, the delegate proposes the creation of a government black market. The United Kingdom delete is completely against India’s solution because regulations are needed. This delegate points out the statistics regarding death by overdose in India, primarily connected to the debate subject. The United Kingdom delegate consider that India must close the black market immediately. The delegate of Sweden pointed out that India is allowing the black market to exist and that black market medications should be eliminated, also the costs of medication and prescriptions should be lowered. 

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Most of the delegates are against India’s proposal in order to address this problem.

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Spain is open to help with this problem; the delegate considers that India is going on a good path but says there should be many regulations in order to make a legal black market work. The delegate of Colombia thinks the best way to avoid this problem is to make the medications free. The delegate of Italy says that India should address this problem better, this delegation considers the idea of creating police to abolish the black market. Japan, China, and the US consider that India’s black market is negative for people and the economy, all of these delegates are strictly against the black market because of the damage it can cause to citizens and to the economy of pharmaceuticals.

Day 2

Measures to strengthen global pandemic response systems (COVID-19)

By: Isabella Cadavid

In today’s debate, the chair closed the first topic that was Health repercussions of black-market medications, there were two blocks: the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Colombia, Japan, and Sweden did draft resolution 1.2 and they were against the black market, they proposed to increase the monetary resources for pharmaceutical development, to educate citizens regarding the consequences of black-market medications, and they urged for countries who have black market activity, to evaluate this activity and to regulate the products sold. 

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On the contrary, draft resolution 1.1 was done by India, the Central African Republic, People’s Republic of China, Italy, and Spain, this block was not willing to eliminate the black market but to regulate this activity and prevent health repercussions. The block that did draft resolution 1.1 was are alarmed by all the repercussions that the black market causes, but also disturbed by the idea of abolishing the black market, they proposed implementing a campaign promoting certified medications in the black market at a low price point, and the application of regulated entities for the black market.

 

Finally, the delegates voted for a draft resolution and draft resolution 1.2 got the most amount of votes. After this, the chair closed the first topic and opened the second topic, Measures to strengthen global pandemic response systems (COVID-19). This topic focuses on the economy of the world collapsing, the increased political tensions between some nations, and mainly the lives that have been lost and the ones that are at risk

 

Many countries say they started taking measurements as soon as COVID 19 started spreading across the world, many of them did mandatory quarantine, social distancing, closed schools, and many more measures. Colombia mentioned that the quarantine in this country has affected the mental health of citizens and the economy. Spain is the most affected European country, they have a second wave right now. At this point in the debate, the United States and China had a rivalry because of the origin of the virus, which was in China.

Day 2

Measures to strengthen global pandemic response systems (COVID-19)

By: Isabella Cadavid

In today’s debate, the delegations are stating their positions and forming blocks to create the draft resolutions. There was a formal debate, and delegations such as Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Kingdom of Sweden are against the quarantine, these delegations consider that the increase of mental illnesses, the rise unemployment rate, and the increased suicide rate is something that should be considered as well as the lives of people, so these nations are waiting or the vaccine to arrive while using other safety measures that are not quarantine. The delegation of Colombia says that strict quarantine didn’t work for their country and it brought more problems, this delegation is considering other measures to prevent COVID 19 spread. 

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On the contrary, delegations such as Japan and India say that the US and the UK should not care more about their economy than their people. Japan says that countries that are not taking care of their citizens will not be a part of the implementation of the vaccine they are developing. This delegation proposes to the UK, the US, and Spain to wait in quarantine until the vaccine arrives. Japan is completely in favor of herd immunity, which consists of vaccinating a large amount of a population, lowering the amount of virus able to spread in the population. 

 

After the formal debate, the delegations formed blocks, the first one was formed by Spain, the US, the UK, Sweden, and Colombia, this block doesn’t support quarantine. The second block did draft resolution 2.2, it was formed by India, Japan, China, Central African Republic, they are in favor of quarantine. This block is concerned because of the increase of covid cases in the UK and the US, request the obligatory use of masks, and invite the US to work with China and Japan to implement the vaccine as long they do quarantine.

 

The draft resolution 2.1 was done by the UK, US, Spain, Sweden, and Colombia. They are alarmed by the increase of mental illnesses in countries with the lockdown. They acknowledge the high rates of unemployment increased, invite educational systems to educate about pandemics and prepare future generations, propose obligatory use of masks, suggest a plan to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE), and seek for governments and media to stop spreading panic.

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CCBMUNXVII

Simulation Day

The Research and Treatment of orphan diseases

By: Camila Nahuel

The issue being discussed today in the World Health Organization Commission is the research and treatment of orphan diseases. The orphan diseases, also known as rare diseases, are those that go undiagnosed for years due to their low occurrence worldwide. These are diseases affect only an average of 1 in 2000 people. Nonetheless, they present on 25 to 30 million US citizens. This makes it an urgent matter to be discussed as it becomes a public health concern. The commission seeks ways in which each of the country’s delegation can contribute to a more efficient solution than the ones that are already being applied.

During the debate, several delegates proposed equally helpful solutions to the issue. Countries like the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom suggested the implementation of an international database. This database will give basic information on rare diseases and contacts for possible medical resources. Furthermore, this implementation can help developing countries that aren’t in the capacity to start their own research on rare diseases and need medications (cures). Another approach to the problem came from the delegation of Canada, who thought a World Wide Fund for the orphan diseases could be a better possibility. On the other hand, other delegations like Norway suggested the option of finding cures through research on gene manipulation and invited others to fund these investigations.  

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To restart the debate, the presidents requested a crisis that would incriminate the US. The situation was of a mother who had lost her child only months after its birth because they couldn’t diagnose the rare disease he had. The delegate of the US easily overcame this crisis by pointing out that in only three months wasn’t enough time to diagnose. Now they are finalizing by presenting their resolution papers and waiting to agree in one. 

Day 1

Application of CRISPR technology on humans as a treatment for genetically transmitted diseases

By: Santiago Montoya

The role of the WHO commission is to coordinate health affairs within the UN system and to promote international cooperation on improving health conditions worldwide. It is also in charge of managing aspects regarding the epidemic control, quarantine measures and drug standardization, amongst others. In the actual model the topic of “Application of CRISPR technology on humans as a treatment for genetically transmitted diseases”, is being discussed. The countries have different points of views on whether this type of technology must or mustn't be implemented as a the treatment for diseases. 

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According to livescience the CRISPR technology, “Allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its many potential applications [including] correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops. However, its promise also raises ethical concerns”. As it was mentioned before, this type of technology has many consequences behind it. That is why the delegation of South Korea is against it; because it is a relatively new technology that can cause bad effects. If people use this technology, it will be violating the ethical and moral values of people. This is due to the fact that it will put the lives of many at risk. As well, this approach has side effects and affect the body in order to recognize bacteria and killing it. The delegation of Canada stated that it is not willing to use this type of technology, and said there are other solutions like chemotherapy that is an efficient cure for cancer, instead of the CRISPR technology. 

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On the other hand, there are other countries that really like this new technology. One of them is the US, that thinks this technology is really good but can cause unwanted effects in the human body and genes. But it is necessary for human survival and it has to be implemented to ensure human efficiency. As well, Germany, who has the same position as the US, mentioned that the technology must be researched for 10 more years in order to be safe and to be commercially used. Other really strong economies like Spain commented that the nation really likes the technology because the cost is really low and could be the key to curing many diseases. One of the solutions that were mentioned the first day was by France, who mentioned that there are many countries that are not economically stable in order to implement the technology. France also proposed to give financial aid to those countries that cannot afford this new technology. 

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There is hope that a solution that most delegations approve of will be found, however for now there is no solid solution as the debate has not been concluded. 

Day 3

Deteriorating health conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

By: Santiago Montoya

The WHO commission its debating the topic “Deteriorating health conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.​” This conflict has bring a tense mood throughout the delegates, but this doesn't mean they're willing to find a solutions to this problematic. In order to understand the situation is really important to mention the background information of this topic. In the first hand, The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been an ongoing problem since the last century.

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It has been called one of the most complex and controversial clashes in history, and it is mainly a conflict regarding two groups of people wanting the same territory. According to World Health Organization, “Not only are the people at risk of being hurt by the violence around them, but the blockade around the OPTs (Palestinian Territories), along with many other factors, attribute to the limitation of access to basic healthcare.” The healthcare systems in the Occupied Territories are operating under a huge amount of pressure due to the consequences of the occupation, blockade, rapid population growth, lack of proper financial resources and lack of basic medical supplies. 

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This conflict have many of the countries to take quick decisions in order to help does people in need. One of this is The OPT that is willing to accept any type of help from the other developed countries, need healthcare for children because they don't have food and many others really important resources.  An example of this is from the world health organization that Malnutrition has been increasing rapidly, reaching 13% in Gaza. In the West Bank, 25% of the population was classified as food insecure, while in Gaza it was 56% of the population. That's the reason the Palestinian Territories need the most help from the other countries that are willing to give aid. One of this countries that is willing to help FRANCE IS WILLING TO FULLY HELP THE PEOPLE IN NEED SPECIALLY CHILDREN AND WOMEN. This solutions is focused in many of the diseases like hepatitis A and B.  Other country that is willing to help is israel that is willing to create new centers of health near the opts, in order to help the majority of the population in need. In general the majority of the countries involved in this problematic are fully committed to give the necessary help for all of this people that are really having a bad moment in their lives. That's why the WHO commission is willing to solve all of this problematics regarding one of the most important needs in the world. 

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