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LHHSMUN: Sample Position Paper Country Name LHHSMUN Committee Topic I. Country Profile (EXAMPLE FOR THAILAND) A. Government 1. Official Country Name: Kingdom of Thailand 2. Governmental System: Constitutional Monarchy 3. Head of State: King Adunyadet 4. Official Language(s): Thai, English 5. Region: Allies/Blocs: Japan, US, EU Members, NATO B. People 1. Population and Growth Rate: 66,720,153 2. Major Religions/Cultures: Buddhist, Muslim, Christian C. Economy 1. Economic System: Industrialized Economy 2. GDP and Growth Rate: $318 billion, 7.8% 3. Major Cities: Bankok, Pak Kret 4. Infrastructure Status: Solid infrastructure, 101 airports, several roads/bridges, currently tampered by flooding 5. Trade Blocs/Associations: US, Japan, European/Asian nations 6. Balance of Trade: $193.5 billion in exports, $161 billion in imports 7. Major Exports/Imports: Exports: textiles, rice, rubber, automobiles, computers. Imports: fuels, consumer goods, capital gods 8. Major Trade Partners: US, Japan, China, other Asian/European nations 9. Natural Resources: Tungsten, tin, natural gas, timber, lead, fish 10. Energy Sources (type and origin): coal, fossil fuels, natural gas which are all mined/found in the nation or imported. Limited nuclear, solar, and wind plants. D. Development (1 point) 1. Development Status: Thailand is a developing nation, set back by floods currently 2. Climate: tropical, rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon 3. Environmental (problems, innovations, etc): massive floods, occasional droughts E. Military (2 points) 1. Military organization: there are 4 branches (army, navy, marines, air force) 2. Military expenditures (% GDP spent on defense): 1.8% 3. Major weapons, arsenal, nuclear capability, etc.: None F. Conflicts/issues (3 points) 1. What are four problems/threats that affect this nation? air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, flooding 2. Ethnic/cultural issues: little exposure to other cultures, several culture clashes 3. Refugee problems: mistreatment of refugees from neighboring countries 4. Major conflict both past and present: deforestation, flooding G. United Nations (5 points) 1. Date admitted to the UN: December 16, 1946 2. Has the UN ever intervened in a conflict involving this nation? If so, where and how? Human rights watch and border tensions with peacekeeping troops. 3. How does the country contribute to UN peacekeeping? Peacekeeping training conducted in Thailand 4. Has the UN cited this nation for human rights violations? If so, why? Human trafficking watch 5. Based on your research, what do you feel is at the heart of the nation’s identity? The current flooding issue H. Sources MRSA – Position Paper II. Background Staphylococcus aureus, also known as “S. aureus” and “Staph” began to appear in the 1880s.1 The infection usually lived on the skin and caused soft, painful skin conditions such as impetigo and boils. 1 If left untreated or removed, these can develop into massive soars characterized with puss, deeply exfoliated skin, and open wounds. 1 If the bacteria somehow enters the body and gets under the skin or into the bloodstream, it can cause more serious maladies such as boils, an abyss or fatal pneumonia, as well as other various, serious infections.2 Since the 1928 discovery of penicillin and it’s effectiveness as an antibiotic, by Alexander Flemming, medical treatment for Staph has become successful and quite common.3 However, like many bacteria, it slowly developed resistance to Penicillin between 1940 and 1950.1 Next, erythromycin, streptomycin, and tetracycline were used as treatment, but Staph developed resistance to this too.1 In 1959 Methicillin, a variation of Penicillin, was used to treat it but the bacteria developed a resistance to it as well, marking the birth of MRSA, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. MRSA spread first throughout Europe, then Australia and to the rest of the world, and is specifically prominent in developed nations, however recent statistics reveal that MRSA is growing in prominence in the developing world. As MRSA spread, it branched into two different branches; Healthcare Associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) which is contracted by patients in hospitals, and Community Associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) which is contracted by members of the general community, and is specifically prominent among athletes, prisoners, and military recruits due to their frequent skin-to-skin contact. 4 MRSA has continued to grow immune to all forms of antibiotic used against it, and for this reason it poses a huge threat to the international community, as if new antibiotics and treatment methods are outrun by the evolving bacteria, worldwide panics could ensue. III. UN Involvement Due to the fact that MRSA has become the most important pathogen that is associated with healthcare treatments and resistance to antibiotics, the UN has been extremely involved in worldwide monitoring, prevention, treatment and research initiatives. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the main UN organization involved with MRSA, and it holds various annual seminars and conferences to discuss the issue with the international community. WHO launched the initial worldwide strategy for combating diseases caused by the growing resistance that bacteria are developing towards antibiotics, called the “WHO Global Strategy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance”. 6 One of the unique aspects of this strategy is that it does not call for soley regional efforts but international collaboration. Any country that indulges in poor prescribing techniques has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of antibacterial treatment everywhere. The strategy recognizes that national governments have the responsibility for containment and recommends the creation of legislative bodies to handle licensing, sales, and distribution of antibacterial agents. 6 There are also many methods in which WHO assists nations in their efforts. These include training personnel, provision of reagents, and software programs to help monitor the resistance. The guidelines set for treatment by leaders and authorities are not much different from usual treatment for infectious disease. Patient Isolation which includes having only a few staff working with them and avoiding hospital moves. Staff precautions which includes standard wearing of disposable garments (gloves and wrappings). And patient discharge which is thoroughly cleaning the room and equipment used for an infected patient. WHO also established guidelines for the use of antimicrobial substances used on food producing animals. WHO works with various other organizations such as The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC),which holds annual APIC/JCR/Joint Commission Infection Prevention and Control Conferences to discuss ways to combat MRSA, and the Infection Research association.5 IV. Country Policy/Possible Solutions Afghanistan has received recent international attention in the medical world due to the extensive cases of soldiers (mainly US) getting wounded in Afghanistan and contracting diseases, such as HA-MRSA in the hospitals there. The contraction of MRSA is most frequent when soldiers fracture bones. The site becomes infected with Osteomyelitis, which then makes the wound more vulnerable to MRSA. The soldiers not only bring MRSA back to America, but also spread throughout the Afghanistan civilian population. In this way, the infection morphs into CA-MRSA. This has created problems for both the Afghanistan and US governments, and MRSA recently surpassed HIV as the deadliest pathogen in the US. Because of this, both the US and Afghanistan governments have been making concerted efforts to combat MRSA, with recent success in using colistin-laced bone cement when treating injuries. This cement prevents the area from becoming infected and subsequently prevents MRSA outbreaks. However, apart from these military related infections, there have been relatively few cases of MRSA in Afghanistan. This is largely due to the extreme emphasis the Muslim culture (which comprises 99% of the population9) places on personal hygiene. Afghanistan medical officials promote sanitation in healthcare as well as effective personal hygiene habits to prevent the spread of MRSA. However, due to the impoverished nature of many of the nation’s healthcare facilities, these methods are not extremely modernized. Many medical centers in rural areas also lack internet access, resulting in Afghanistan’s lack of a centralized database to monitor the spread and treatment of MRSA. Rural doctors also lack precautionary education on the hazards of the overuse of antibiotics. For these reasons, Afghanistan advocates the creation of a centralized international database, as a to be managed under the WHO with collection sites in every country, to monitor the spread and treatment of MRSA. This will serve as an expansion of current statistical practices in individual countries and therefore require minimal additional funding. Afghanistan also promotes the education of rural healthcare officials on the transmission, epidemiology control and treatment of MRSA through REACH (Rural Expansion of Afghanistan's Community-Based Healthcare).10Furthermore, Afghanistan promotes the placing of stringent regulations for the use of antibiotics on livestock, as well as awareness campaigns through standard government sponsored media as well as seminars at local medical centers on MRSA and its spread, prevention and treatment. Lastly, Afghanistan encourages increased research in developed nations into alternative treatment methods than antibiotics, such as Jeff Brinker’s strategy of using lipoproteins to bind the peptide which initiates harmful MRSA infections. Through following these steps, the international community can most effectively combat MRSA and prevent its development into the ultimate “super bug” completely oblivious to human intervention. Sources: 1. http://www3.niai d.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/Examples/mrsa/history.html 2. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/ 3.http://www.pnas.org/content/99/11/7687.full.pdf> 4. http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-mrsa-methicillinresistant-staphylococcus-aureus 5.http://www.infectionresearch.de/events/detail/event/1st_european_conference_on_mrsa_disease/ 6. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs194/en/ 7.http://www.apic.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Education/Conferences/PastEvents/ManagingM RSAACallToAction/Managing_MRSA_A_Call.htm 8. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/136989.php 9. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html 10. http://www.nonprofitexpert.com/countries/afghanistan.htm IF YOU HAVE TWO TOPICS, YOUR BACKGROUND, UN INVOLVEMENT AND COUNTRY POLICY FOR THE NEXT TOPIC GO HERE