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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
INDEX
Index
Page 1
Introduction
Page 2
Roots and details of the problem
Page 3
Countries involved
Page 4
Vocabulary
Page 5
Previous UN Resolutions
Page 6
Bibliography and useful links
Page 7
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
INTRODUCTION
Health systems worldwide look after the protection of every human being: there are
many different health care systems worldwide and organizations firstly depend on the
country; especially they are funded from taxation system, assurances and private
contributions.
The Health system aims to the control and the defeat of serious and infectious
diseases; according to the WHO (acronym of World Health Organization) the most
important goal is “the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health”.
The World Health Organization is a branch of the United Nations focused on public
health, data and statistics elaboration.
When the United Nations formed in 1945, one of the first topics to be discussed was
the global health care; then the WHO was founded.
A health service is divided in three levels:
the first is usually provided, for example, by family doctors, dentists and pharmacists:
they give a diagnosis that can make the patient avoid expensive-hospital treatments.
In this case the sickness is identified on time and ill people can get cured.
In the second category of health care systems doctors advise patients to seek a
particular medical advice, by visiting specialists. Contrary to the family doctors, these
doctors do not stay in touch with the patient for long periods after they got cured. This
category is referred to as private specialists.
The third category is often given by hospitals, but in many case the primary care is
more important. In fact, even if this kind of care could appear more productive, it is
more complicated to keep it under control.
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
ROOTS AND DETAILS OF THE PROBLEM
All over the world health care service can be public or private.
Public Health aims to the protection and the improvement of health, which is made
possible with education, research and prevention attempts. Last century Public Health
helped us in the improvement of our quality of life: life expectances have increased
and, on the contrary, infant mortality has decreased. It doesn’t focus on individual
health, but it takes care of whole populations.
Public health care systems are funded by the governments through the payment of
taxes, and that’s why public services have been hit indirectly by the financial crisis
during the last years.
Contrary to the Public Health, private health systems are strange to the governments,
in fact they are funded only by those who benefit from it. For this reason,
professionals can use innovative methods and medicines, which sometimes make
them more useful. Private health is not a low-cost service and not everyone at all can
have the benefit of it.
In developed countries health care systems are not easily accessible, and it is
estimated that every year 36.000.000 million people die because of noncommunicable
diseases.
In developed countries, richer people often use private services but statistics say that
those people are less in need than the poorer ones: in addition, many families that
need private services fall in poverty after the payment of expensive treatments.
In Less Economically Developed Countries the situation is reversed: hospitals and
services are often unable to give the appropriate treatment which sick people need.
Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are three of the most serious infectious diseases
that nowadays health care systems are facing, especially in Less Economically
Developed Countries: they are still incurable and most odeaths are due to the poor
conditions that can not grant the necessary drugs.
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
They affect most Asian and African countries; in addition in Developed Countries
tuberculosis can be contracted by subjects with a compromised immune system, due
to heavy drugs abuse and HIV: this last disease is not as ancient as Malaria or MTB
and it is not curable, yet, but there are medicines able to stop the sickness progressing.
The availability of sanitation is also a major factor of health systems. Clean drinking
water and sewage are two important factors affecting the health of a population. As in
other categories, the availability of these depends primarily on the level of a country’s
development, though other factors, such as geography and the amount of freshwater,
also influence this.
Figure 1: Access to drinking water and sanitation by region and GDP. Source: World Health
Organization
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
COUNTRIES INVOLVED
The nature and effectiveness of health systems vary widely between countries and
regions. In many of the world’s less developed regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa,
health systems are practically non-existent and many basic services, such as clean
water and sewage, are not available, which makes the level of health deteriorate
further. Often, in these countries, medicines and aid provided by the United Nations
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is greater than that given by the
government. In Malawi, for example, more than 75% of the amount spent on
healthcare comes from foreign donors.
The level of health provided to a country’s citizens positively correlates with the
amount of spending on healthcare: the map below shows health spending per capita
(in US dollars) worldwide.
Figure 2: Spending on healthcare per capita, in US $. Source: World Health Organization
Nowadays the health care system is improving: focusing the attention on Africa,
hospitals and doctors are more and more qualified and structures are facing the
increment of deadly-diseases cases.
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
Even if the quality of health system has improved, it is still far to give a satisfying
service, due to the lack of availability, accessibility and affordability. In addition, the
sustainability of services is compromised, due to the poverty conditions in these
countries.
Two other sample countries affected by the same African problem in other regions of
the world are Brazil and India.
In Brazil the government is adopting a medicine self-production policy but it covers
only a quarter of the sick population.
Giving an example, it is estimated that on 183 million people, 600.000 human beings
are affected by HIV and only 170.000 people receive free medications.
More differences are present in India: even if during the last decade the HIV cases
have dropped by a half, about 1.5 million people are still infected by this disease. As
Brazil, India is one of the most important producers of medicines the prices are much
more affordable than in developed countries.
Surely developed countries have the availability of better and safer treatments,
especially due to the financial conditions: this doesn’t mean that there is not any
problem: drugs and medicines are not accessible to all. In most European states and
developed countries, free public health care is available to everyone, although private
clinics are allowed and people often buy their own medicines: in other countries, such
as the United States, individuals must either pay for their own health care or buy
expensive private health insurance. The costs have increased because of the financial
conditions of many countries.
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
VOCABULARY
Disease : “illness; disorder of body or mind; particular kind of illness or disorder.”
(Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
To eradicate : “put an end to, get rid of.” When a sickness is eradicated, it means that
nobody can suffer from it anymore.
Bacterium : “the smallest and simplest (usu unicellular) form of plant life, existing in
air, water and soil, and in living and dead creatures and plants, essential to animal life
and sometimes a cause of disease.’’ Bacteria affect especially week people or those
who go to particular places without the appropriate vaccinations.
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
PREVIOUS UN ACTIONS
The World Health Organization (WHO) was founded by the UN on 7 May 1948, with
the aim of coordinating and conducting public health efforts globally. The WHO was
the main actor behind the vaccination campaign which eradicated smallpox in 1980.
In addition, UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) carry out aid missions in Less
Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs).
5th December 2011 – Preambulatory clause of the resolution about global health and
foreign policy.
“Noting with concern that for millions of people throughout the world, the right to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including
access to medicines, still remains a distant goal and that in many cases, especially for
children and those living in poverty, the likelihood of achieving this goal is becoming
increasingly remote”
4th and 5th points of the introduction of the report prepared by the Director-General of
the WHO, about global health and foreign policy.
“4. The strategic importance of health has been recognized as central to the
achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium
Development Goals. The Secretary-General has stated that health is at the heart of
the Millennium Development Goals; it is the specific subject of three Goals and a
critical precondition for progress on most of them.”
“5. Health and poverty are closely interlinked with social and economic determinants
modulating progress in health, and are central to sustainable and economic
development, and to protection of the environment. Health has increased the political
importance of, and is influenced by, security, social and economic development,
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
humanitarian, trade, and human rights issues — all well represented in United
Nations forums.”
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), made in 2000 and to be
achieved worldwide by 2015, have a strong emphasis on health systems. Goals 4, 5
and 6 read:
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
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Committee: Special Conference on Youth
Question of: Assisting the development of health systems worldwide
Student Officer: Kimberly Andriani
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND USEFUL LINKS
Shah, Anup. "Health Issues." 22 September 2011. Global Issues. 18 January 2012
<http://www.globalissues.org/issue/587/health-issues>.
Author unknown. What is Public Health? 2011. 18 January 2012
<http://www.whatispublichealth.org/>.
World Health Organization. World Health Organization website. 2012. 18 January
2012 <http://www.who.int/>.
—. "International Health Regulations." 2005. WHO website. 18 January 2012
<http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/International_Health_Regulations_IHR_
2005_en.pdf>.
—. "World Malaria Report 2011." November 2011. WHO website. 18 January 2012
<http://www.who.int/malaria/world_malaria_report_2011/9789241564403_en
g.pdf >.
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