Global Health Cluster
Global Health Cluster
Dear Delegates,
Nick Moore
Welcome to the WHO Global Health Cluster at HNMUN 2012! I’m Nick Moore and I’m thrilled to be directing our committee. In the GHC, we will get to know each other quite well over four exhilarating days as we tackle some of the world’s most important health crises.
To introduce myself, I’m a member of the varsity fencing team, and after graduating I want to be a neurologist and medical researcher. I’m a sophomore, and I plan to pursue my interest in the brain with a major in Neurobiology and a minor in Global Health and Health Policy. Growing up in Calgary, Canada, the stereotypically freezing winters were remedied by close proximity to some of the world’s greatest skiing. My mother’s side of the family is from Quebec, so I grew up speaking English and French, and I know a few words of Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. This summer, I will be writing your study guide from Guyana, where I will be an intern at the Ministry of Health researching maternal and child health. Other interests of mine are Model UN and human rights advocacy. The coolest thing I did last year was to run the Boston Marathon in a hamburger suit to raise money for the homeless.
In the GHC, we will address health crises in two highly unstable regions of the world. The specter of influenza, which in 2009 stoked fears of a global H1N1 pandemic à la Spanish Flu of 1918, returns in the guise of the avian flu in South Asia. This perennial concern for crisis planners will provide us with much fuel for substantive debate. Our second topic takes us to Libya, a country recently destabilized by major political upheavals, where we will grapple with the complexity of health interventions in conflict settings. You will be challenged to take on the role of a health organization deciding how best to prioritize, plan, and implement emergency crisis relief efforts. Agendas will clash as the 38 delegations in the GHC hotly debate these initiatives. Together, I am convinced we will forge comprehensive solutions.
From now until the conference, do not hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding our committee. I look forward to meeting all of you in February!
Sincerely,
Nick Moore,
Director, Global Health Cluster
Harvard National Model United Nations 2012
Dear Delegates,
William Gorman
My name is Billy Gorman, and what a thrill and a privilege it is to say that I will be your crisis director for the Global Health Cluster in HNMUN 2012! Before we get into committee discussion, let me introduce myself:
I am currently a junior at Harvard College, residing in the fabulous Kirkland House and concentrating in government, and I can surely say my time here has been a whirlwind. I grew up a stone’s throw away in Whitman, Massachusetts, and I still hold fond memories of my first treks through Harvard Square- back when, for me, it was a place to get food and nothing resembling what I pictured as a future home of mine for four years. Despite essentially attending school in my backyard, I can honestly say that I have learned more about the world during my brief stay here than I ever have before. In the past, I’ve directed the WHO at both HNMUN and HMUN China, and Security Council at Harvard’s branch of WEMUN Expo in 2011. Outside directing for Model UN, I try to stay active on campus, serving on House Committee in Kirkland, remaining the avid Red Sox fan I have been since birth, traveling with ICMUN, Harvard’s collegiate team, and running road races to stay in shape and relive my glory days of high school cross-country.
In the Global Health Cluster, a subsidiary branch of the World Health Organization, you will be asked to mimic the delicate balancing act that the health leaders of the world tackle today. On one end, you must continue the battle against infectious disease, in this case, a new strain of influenza spreading through India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, you must decide how to best fulfill your duties as healthcare providers in an ever-changing and often-dangerous world. How the GHC handles the respective situations in Egypt and Libya will determine the lives of countless refugees in each nation, in addition to those bravely entering the fray to provide care. Focusing on just one end of the challenge will certainly result in failure, and success will only be achieved by cooperation, creativity, and an awareness for the entire scope of the respective issues.
I wish you the best of luck in your preparations for committee, and if you have any questions along the way, do not hesitate to contact Nick or myself. I am excited to meet you all, and I look forward to seeing you in February.
Sincerely,
William Gorman,
Crisis Director, Global Health Cluster
Harvard National Model United Nations 2012
Topic Area A: Health Crisis in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
In early 2011, citizens of Middle Eastern and North African countries began protesting repressive and outdated governments. Those in Egypt and Libya led to the resignation of the regime in the former and a civil war in the latter. The breakdown of order in these countries is significant from a global health perspective due to the complex humanitarian crisis facing new refugees and civilians trapped in conflict zones within Libya. The political stability of Egypt is in question as of now and Libya’s civil war has severely limited its capability to handle refugees. Health interventions will need to surmount these political realities while delivering care to particularly vulnerable populations. In Libya, the Global Health Cluster will be called to decide how best to treat the victims on both sides of a civil war. The GHC will be forced to navigate hostile political climates and consider the safety of the medial personnel at its disposal, all while treating the numerous civilian (and military) victims of civil war. With transportation infrastructure and accessibility at a minimum, the GHC will need to decide where to deploy its personnel within war zones. Different approaches will be needed for war victims and refugee camps. Within refugee camps, high frustrations can result in violence and assault, outbreaks of disease due to exposure to endemic diseases or diseases carried by other refugees, and shortages of medical supplies. Members of the GHC may be limited by the ruling, warring regime from offering the full extent of their services. To reverse this situation, the GHC may need to recruit other nations to its cause. This topic will emphasize the highly political nature of certain health crisis interventions.
Topic Area B: Pandemic Influenza in South Asia
Influenza pandemics have risen time and again throughout human history, due to the rapidly evolving nature of the influenza virus. From the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 to the more recent outbreaks of both H5N1 and H1N1 strains in recent years (better known as avian flu and swine flu respectively), these outbreaks have been variable in effect and worrisome for health crisis planners. Topic Area B will deal principally with a new strain of influenza found in India and Pakistan. The GHC will be forced to establish policies to deal with rapidly evolving diseases, outbreaks in conflicted areas, and quick but effective responses with both short- and long-term implications. In the wake of the ongoing health crisis in Pakistan from the 2010 summer floods, the GHC will also be forced to consider how best to address the outbreaks within a recovering healthcare system. Long-term infrastructural and agricultural damage have compounded the initial problems caused by the floods. Many Pakistanis continue to live in refugee camps, internally displaced persons whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. In such camps, diseases such as cholera and acute respiratory infections abound. Vaccination and improved detection programs are some initiatives the GHC may consider. The GHC may also consider how best to integrate health services with other agencies coordinating humanitarian relief, as part of an expansive definition of primary care. The potential for refugees to move to India may lead to political tensions.
