World Health Organization

Dear Delegates,

Giaynel Cordero Taveras

It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you the WHO committee of Harvard National Model United Nations in 2012! My name is Giaynel Cordero Taveras and I am junior at Harvard concentrating in Neurobiology with a secondary in Global Health and Heath Policy. I was born in Puerto Rico and raised in two beautiful islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Although Cambridge, MA has become my new home, I currently live in NY where I have been living for the past 8 years.

Outside of the classroom, I am involved in cultural organizations such as the pan-Latino organization at Harvard called Fuerza Latina. In addition, I currently work at the center for Latin American studies as an intern, which allows me to interact with many visiting scholars from Latin American countries. I am also in charge of corporate development for the Harvard Advertising and Marketing club. On the side, I tutor French. Apart from clubs, I enjoy kayaking and basically any water sport you can imagine, perhaps a result of growing up by the ocean.

As it gets closer to conference, I hope you are excited to participate in the WHO committee that will touch on topics currently affecting global health. The topics we will discuss have had very little progress and are still under debate in the real UN! These topics affect a large number of people worldwide suffering from easily preventable diseases. It is your job as delegates to promote ideas and policies that can change our current global health situation.

As you prepare for conference I hope you research the many factors that contribute to both topics and study past interventions, those that have worked and those that have not. This will help you formulate a good and effective solution to lessening the global health problems we will discuss. The study guide will be a great starting point for you, but don’t be afraid to go further with the material to help you think of new ideas and create a strong argument. When researching, please keep in mind that forming policy will vary greatly from country to country and thus one intervention might not work in all countries. With that said, I hope you learn a lot from committee and that you take something away from your experience at the WHO committee. I look forward to meeting you all in January!

Sincerely,

Giaynel Cordero Taveras
Director, World Health Organization
Harvard National Model United Nations 2012

Topic Area A: The Double Burden of Disease

Communicable diseases are and have been of considerable importance to NGO’s and policy makers worldwide. However, non-communicable diseases have grown to be of considerable importance. In fact, the burden of non-communicable diseases is now greater than the burden of communicable diseases in low and middle-income countries, as well as in high income ones. Even though non-communicable diseases are not thought to be prevalent in low and middle-income countries, they do bear a large burden on the health of the population. The most common of these diseases are cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, cancers, and mental disorders. The risk factors for non-communicable diseases are mostly a result of lifestyle such as diet, tobacco use, and alcohol abuse.

Some non-communicable diseases can be prevented at low costs but the diseases themselves are often very expensive to treat. The costs that come about as a result of these diseases are substantial. Many cause disability and thus, lost productivity, which can affect the economy. In regions where there is poverty, disability drives families even deeper into poverty.

In low-income countries, we speak about the double burden because these countries not only severely suffer from under nutrition and micro deficiency, but also from the rise of non-communicable diseases. Some have attributed this double burden to the increase in globalization which has brought prepackages foods high in sodium, sugars and fat into developing countries creating a shift from buying produced goods to processed goods. It is estimated that cardio vascular disease is the leading cause of illness related death and it causes about 30% of deaths worldwide. Diabetes has also a large effect on the population worldwide with about 5.1% of adult worldwide, of ages 20 to 79 years, affected by the disease in 2003. Another large contributor to the burden of non-communicable diseases is tobacco use, a risk factor for both diabetes and heart disease. It is estimated that about five million deaths annually are attributed to tobacco consumption in low income and high- income countries.

Some questions delegates should be asking in debate are: How can we regulate the sale of processed goods in these developing countries or what regulations can we create for these companies? How can we effectively target the poor malnourished class and the over nourished class? How can we pass laws, or regulations to change the lifestyle of people and lessen the burden of non-communicable diseases?

Topic Area B: Child Health in the Developing World

About 10.8 million children around the world die every year before they reach their fifth birthday. Child health still accounts for the largest global burden of disease. The most interesting part about child health is that most of these deaths are preventable through simple and low cost interventions.

Children are susceptible to their living environment, which is closely linked with poverty and the education and health of their mothers. Education and health of the mother also have a great effect on the child’s health. The Millennium Report of 2006 reported that a higher household income and maternal education doubles the child’s survival rate. At birth, the survival rate of a newborn is closely linked with whether or not the birth of the child occurred in an appropriate healthcare setting and whether a health care provider was present. This often becomes a problem in rural areas where there might not be a clinic nearby a village.

The leading cause of child deaths in developing countries are infections, low birth weight and birth asphyxia. Low birth weight often reflects the poor health status of the mother. If the mother is also in a poor health state, not only does her child suffer, but she also is at a greater risk of death during birth. Infections and birth asphyxia are common in newborns due to the lack of health care access and education. Infections such as diarrhea and tetanus can be prevented with cheap methods of vaccination. Others like upper respiratory tract infections caused by the common cold or ear infections which affect the child at the early stages can be prevented with proper access to health care facilities. Outside of the health sector, the child faces many other problems such as malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency, leading to many otherwise preventable illnesses.  Treating micronutrient deficiency can be very inexpensive; for example, in order to cure iodine deficiency all that is required is one small dosage in a lifetime but yet it is estimated that more than 70 million people worldwide suffer from a disorder due to the deficiency. Iodine deficiencies can cause fetal loss, stillbirths, congenital abnormalities and hearing impairment. Other deficiencies such as that of vitamin A can cause blindness and it has a great effect on whether or not a child can survive from malaria, measles or diarrhea. Treating micronutrient deficiencies is a very cost effective way of increasing the health of a population overall.

As we approach conference I hope the delegates will think focus on ways that we could improve child health. How can we assure skilled birth attendants in poor regions? How can we educate young mothers on treating their children when they have diarrhea, or any other disease that requires medical attention? How can we improve the education of mothers overall? How can we implement programs to help nourish mothers especially while pregnant? How can we decrease the amount of deaths caused by infections? How can we decrease the burden of micronutrient deficiencies in the developing world?