World Health Organization (WHO)Chairs: Pravit Kochar & Noor Kaur Email: nookau24@bergen.org & prakoc25@bergen.org Topic A: Implementing Healthcare Policies for Patients with Dementia The United Nation’s Third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages,” but this is not in effect for patients with Dementia. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect over 50 million people globally and only 1 out of 4 countries have policies addressing this disease. Improving the lives of not just the patient, but the families that often struggle with this illness is a critical step forward to achieve this SDG. Given that the WHO reports an estimated 5 to 7 percent of people over the age of 60 have dementia worldwide, its key that ADRD treatment is affordable and accessible. Current studies show that there is at least a 14-fold increase in the likelihood of having a national dementia plan if they have one of the following: a universal healthcare system, more than 14% of the population 65 years of age or older, or high income. Although many countries fit this criteria, not all make protecting their population with dementia a priority, which results in slow development of information systems, training for healthcare professionals, and long-term social and financial isolations for patients. Delegates must find solutions that decrease the burden on the patients and their families and improve the overall quality of treatment. Topic B: Providing Affordable Treatment For more than 930 million people across the globe, more than 10% of their household income is spent on health care. Affordable health care is a huge problem in the US and continues to be, in spite of prior legislation like the Affordable Care Act. In other countries, like South Africa, universal healthcare is listed as a fundamental right, but due to a generally poor population, underfunded public services and high costs for private service, care remains inaccessible. Bureaucracy in a country’s healthcare system also comes at a cost for patients. For example, regulatory approval processes often take longer than the time actually required. In turn, medical devices that have been approved in other countries take unreasonable long be approved in a patient’s own country. In the meantime, the patient’s health deteriorates and costs pile up. There is no cut and dry way to ensure global access to affordable healthcare (universal health care, expanding areas of health insurance coverage, expanding grants, etc.). The main idea is that proper quality healthcare is crucial to protecting everyone’s fundamental right to be healthy. In addressing this topic, delegates should address ways the healthcare system can be more efficient, yet equitable, and propose unique solutions or combinations of solutions that will reflect their country’s beliefs. Topic guides coming soon! |
