Committee: World Health Organization Topic: The Zika Crisis Chair: Ellen Flax Director: Vikram Krishna Contact: Eflax17@sidwell.edu
Dear Delegates, I am your chair, Ellen Flax, and I am so excited to see all of you at SFSMUNCX! I am a senior at Sidwell and live in Chevy Chase, Maryland. I have been a part of Model UN since sophomore year, and it has been a huge part of my high school experience. This conference, in particular, holds so many of my favorite memories. I am so that I am chairing the WHO committee; it is one that I have always found fascinating and have been able to participate in in past conferences. From going to conferences, to writing position papers, to staffing this conference every year, Sidwell s Model UN team is close-knit and supportive, and that is an atmosphere I hope you get to be a part of!
I. Statement of the Issue and Current State of Affairs This committee is dedicated to discussing the spread of the Zika virus and its repercussions on the international community. Doctors and scientists have been aware of the existence of this disease for decades, but in recent years the virus has become more virulent and more complicated, leading to new outbreaks and thousands of deaths across the globe. Currently, the Center for Disease Control continues to track the spread of Zika, teach healthcare providers how to identify Zika, and research how best to treat it. Unfortunately, however, the disease continues to spread and countries are struggling to keep up. Travel advisories are being issued for countries unable to keep Zika in check, and those countries are suffering from the lack of tourism revenue. It is the task of this UN committee to draft solutions that will allow travelers and citizens to remain safe from the horrors of Zika, while at the same time support countries who do not have the resources to combat the outbreaks on their own. II. History and Past Action The Zika virus is named after the forest in Uganda when the disease was first discovered in monkeys in 1947. The disease is spread by mosquitos, but can also be transmitted by sexual contact. In 1952, the first human case of Zika was reported, and in the years since there have been minor outbreaks reported in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and the pacific Islands. Until 2007, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) had only 14 documented reports of the virus, but due to the fact that Zika presents with symptoms of many other diseases, it is highly likely that other cases existed but were not reported. The most common symptoms of the Zika virus are fever, rash, joint pain, red eyes, and muscle and head aches. The majority of people infected with Zika will only ever
experience minor symptoms and will be able to survive. However, for those at particularly high risk of Zika infection, such as pregnant women, the disease can be extremely dangerous. The Zika virus has been confirmed to pass from mother to fetus, causing debilitating birth defects. Congenital Zika syndrome is the name for the host of defects the disease can cause in infants, the most common being microcephaly, a condition where a baby is born with an abnormally small head and decreased brain tissue. In February 2016, the World Health Organization reported Zika as a Public Health Emergency and International Concern (PHEIC). The WHO has worked quickly to contain the epidemic, creating the $122.1 million Zika Strategic Response Plan. This plan has four main tenets: Detection, Prevention, Care & Support, and Research. One of the most important goals of the WHO in regards to Zika is expanding healthcare systems in affected countries in order to accommodate the long-term effects of the disease. III. Possible Solutions Currently there is no vaccine or official treatment for the Zika virus, the CDC s recommendation is to treat the symptoms such as aches and fever. However, there have been more radical solutions proposed. One being that, as mosquitos are at the root of Zika transmission, that national governments should make efforts to curb their mosquito populations artificially. However, the effectiveness of this method is questionable, as is its environmental sustainability. The pesticides needed to eradicate the mosquitos would also have potentially detrimental effects on the surrounding fish and livestock populations, as well as possibly humans. The only way to asses how safe and applicable this solution could be is to conduct a long term study, which many countries claim their people do not have the time to do.
Guiding Questions: 1. How does the Zika Virus affect your country? 2. How do you balance the safety of those infected with the anxiety of those who fear infection? 3. How do environmental factors play a role in fighting the Zika Crisis? Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/zika-cheat-sheet/506822/ http://scienceline.org/2016/05/an-easy-solution-to-the-war-on-zika/ http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/246091/1/who-zikv-srf-16.3-eng.pdf