United Nations

GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1World Health Organization (WHO) 31st May

2014First Committee

Sponsors: Afghanistan, France, Japan, Netherlands, Romania, Thailand, United States of AmericaSignatories: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo, Germany, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine, United Kingdom, VietnamTopic: Examining Tuberculosis: Access to Treatment and the Advancement of Technology

The World Health Organization,

Emphasizing Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person,

Recalling the Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases, especially point number 15, which ensures the implementation of programs that will eradicate Tuberculosis by the first quarter of the 21st century,

Keeping in mind the targeted aims of the Millennium Development Goals, especially point number 6, which emphasizes on the elimination of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other infectious diseases,

Regretting the unfortunate victims and collateral damage that has been resulted from the lack of access to health care,

Cognizant of the social stigma, discrimination, and the economic toll that heavily surrounds the issue of tuberculosis,

Keeping in mind the responsibilities of the World Health Organization, which is to ensure access to basic, good quality, preventive and curative care,

Bearing in mind Article 2 Sub-section B of the Constitution of the World Health Organization, which highlights the importance of collaboration between governments, the United Nations, specialized agencies, governmental health administrations, and other organizations, which may be deemed appropriate,

Alarmed that tuberculosis has infected 8.6 million people all across the globe annually and is considered as a disease with second highest mortality rate after HIV/AIDS;

United Nations

GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1

Deeply concerned that access to proper and standardized treatments and health services remain inaccessible to more than 3 million people across the globe;

Recognizing the need for joint programme between WHO and diverse UN body, limited but not limited to UN Women, UNICEF, WFP, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNHRC and UNHCR to significantly expand and strengthen its work on global, regional and national level in combating tuberculosis;

Recognizing the many factors contributing to the spread and transmission of tuberculosis, including but not limited to weakened immune system due to malnutrition and other diseases such as HIV/AIDS;

Recognizing the different needs and problems faced by vulnerable groups, including women, children, persons with HIV/AIDS, internally displaced people and refugees, and persons living below the poverty line in receiving accessible tuberculosis treatments and other related health services;EMPHASIZES the importance of comprehensive tuberculosis prevention programmes as an essential element in tailoring national, regional, and

Recalling the General Assembly’s resolution A/RES/58/179 on “Access to medication in the context of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria”;

Recalling its resolution WHA44.8 on “Tuberculosis Control Programme”, resolution WHA53.1 on “Stop Tuberculosis Initiative”, resolution WHA58.14 on “Sustainable financing for tuberculosis prevention and control”, resolution WHA60.19 on “Tuberculosis control: progress and long-term planning”, and resolution WHA62.15 on “Prevention and control of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis”;

Taking into account the Commission on Narcotic Drugs’ resolution 53/4 on “Promoting adequate availability of internationally controlled licit drugs for medical and scientific purposes while preventing their diversion and abuse” and resolution 54/6 on “Promoting adequate availability of internationally controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes while preventing their diversion and abuse”;

Having considered the WHA62/15 report on “The prevention and control of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis;

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1

1. Calls upon the creation of a typology system for the different levels of Tuberculosis as a way to prevent further outbreaks. The level of severity will determine the kind of treatment that a person is given. This should be done through a creation of the six different levels of the severity of the disease, which include:

a. Class O: No TB Exposure. This is a preventive measure, which can detect whether or not a person is infected with TB. People with Class O results have a negative reaction to the TB Skin Test,

b. Class 1: TB Exposure. People with Class 1 have a history of exposure, however are negative when tested with the TB Skin Test,

c. Class 2: TB Infection. There is a positive reaction to the TB Skin Test, but no clinical or radiographic evidence of TB.

d. Class 3: Current TB Disease. There is a positive reaction to the TB Skin Test, and there is evidence of current TB agent,

e. Class 4: Previous TB Disease. There is a history of episode(s) of TB. Positive reaction to the TB Skin Test,

f. Class 5: TB Suspected. Diagnosis is still pending, maximum length for this categoryis three months;

2. Realizes that each typology of the severity of Tuberculosis requires different medical treatment, it is optimal to:

a. Establish new healthcare facilities, including but are not limited to sanitariums,

b. Ensure that hospitals across the Member States have the same international standards of procedures, and proper facilities,

c. Enhance the current clinics that are specialized at combatting Tuberculosis;

3. Urges all Member States:1) To achieve greater accessibility of health services and information related to

the promotion, prevention, treatment, care and recovery of tuberculosis by means of:

a. Establishing more accessible testing centers to increase the availability of standardized early diagnosis in order to reduce mortality rate caused by tuberculosis;

b. Increasing the number and distribution of health care service centers, including clinics hospitals, with a priority for vulnerable groups including but not limited to women, children, persons with HIV/AIDS, persons living below national and/or global poverty line, and persons living in inaccessible areas;

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1c. Making available sufficiently trained and motivated staffs in order to

enable diagnosis treatment and care on tuberculosis including multi-drug resistance (MDRTB) and extensively drug resistance tuberculosis (XDR-TB) by means of skill improvement training aimed at both general and specialized health workers through cooperation with non-governmental organizations (NGO) and inter-governmental partnership;

d. Promoting multi-sector discussion regarding the global crisis posed by the tuberculosis pandemic through the dissemination of important materials on efforts to fight the epidemic

e. Encouraging the incorporation of education on tuberculosis in health education classes on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education as well as the establishment of national-level campaigns against tuberculosis and discrimination to eradicate wrong stigma and misconceptions;

f. Introducing the decentralized production of generic, cheap, and effective drugs for tuberculosis to increase the accessibility of tuberculosis drugs for all and to lessen the dependency of high tuberculosis burden countries on patented drugs;

g. Introducing more efficient distribution system to increase access of TB drugs for at-risk vulnerable and/or inaccessible groups by, but not limited to, the means of minimizing and standardizing the shape of the drugs to increase its quantity in distribution;

4. Encourages Member States to eliminate barriers that hinder the access to treatment, especially for the poor, remotely located people, through ways which include, but are not limited to:

a. The creation of more infrastructure to ensure that everyone, even those located far from the cities have access to diagnostics and treatments,

b. The appointment of central hospitals in each Member States, that have the right and responsibility to distribute the proper medication to regional and local hospitals,

5. Encourages cooperation between WHO and WTO regarding the inclusion of tuberculosis drugs on GATT and TRIPPS agreements

6. Emphasizes the importance of comprehensive tuberculosis prevention programmes as an essential element in tailoring national, regional, and international actions and policies to tailor it to the local profile and the TB pandemic;

7. Stresses the advancement of technology as a way to combat this issue, in ways including, but are not limited to:

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1a. Technological transfers from developed nations in order for developing

nations to conduct in primary measures such as screenings in order to eradicate Tuberculosis,

b. The investment of new technologies, by the Organization, as well as Member States in order to answer the urgent needs for newer, enhanced testing;

8. Emphasizes on the creation of more regulations regarding the immigration system of each Member States, which should be done through:

a. Screenings for tuberculosis before an immigrant or tourist enters the country,

b. The tightening of Cross-Border Policies, which should be adopted by all Member States, in order to decrease the chances of Tuberculosis spreading, and done by the Organization;

9. Designates the increase of money allocation to the funding of research, development, infrastructure-building, and distribution costs, in order to combat this issue, through:

a. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria as the primary source of funding,

b. Private institutions including Multinational Corporations (MNCs),c. Direct donations between Member States through bilateral and multilateral

agreements,d. Philanthropist or other individual non-state actors such as charities and

foundations;10. Recognizing the importance of grassroots movements, the problem should be

solved bottom-up, which can be done through:a. The higher role of Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Societies,

especially in the fields of:i. Education, specifically in the remote areas, focusing on the youth

groups about prevention of tuberculosis, healthy standards of living, and the decrease of stigma and discrimination towards people who suffer from Tuberculosis,

ii. Advocacy, as a larger part of the global TB movement, NGOs should focus on raising awareness, in the youth groups, which are the ones usually most affected by this disease;

11. Bearing in mind the different needs of vulnerable groups such as children, women, and persons affected by internal or external conflict, encourages:

a. Other UN bodies to work alongside the organization, including, but not limited to:

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1i. The United Nations Children and Education Fund (UNICEF), to

assist in socializing and educating children, to work alongside the Ministry of Health and Education in each nation to implement a framework for the curriculum especially at the primary level regarding healthy habits, and other preventive measures,

ii. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), to arouse participation of women in the fields of health, especially pertaining to the issue of Tuberculosis, and increasing of gender equality through a periodical session of capacity-building by the deployment of both WHO and UN Women members, which will stimulate awareness for women to not follow the patriarchal society, and prioritize their health,

iii. The United Nations Humanitarian Center for Refugees (UNHCR), to help ensure that nations who are in a state of war, conflicts, and natural disasters, will still receive access to proper medication by the establishment of healthcare centers in affected areas to prevent the spreading of Tuberculosis,

iv. United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as one of the organizations targeted at achieving the Millennium Development Goals to combat poverty, malnutrition, the livelihood of people and prevent the prevalence of Tuberculosis symptoms;

12. Acknowledging the significance of education in addressing the issue of Tuberculosis, especially by:

a. Endorsing the parliamentary level education, in regards to promote both sustainability and multiplier effect in society,

b. Invite the scientific support from the WHO to help design the curriculum for the primary level education;

13. Emphasizing the advantage of WHO’s scientific capacity, the reallocation of funds should be encouraged towards scientific based research in addressing the issue of tuberculosis, especially regarding the Multi Drug Resistant TB (MDR TB), in ways such as but not limited to:

a. Strengthening the framework of the Greenlight Committee Initiative partnered with STOP TB to raise funds for establishing policies and principles from national- and government-supported agencies, regional and international organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities, research institutions, and other sources;

b. Ensuring transparency of distribution and management of health services and medicines by encouraging government-supported national monitoring

United Nations

GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1and transparency assessment along with assessments sponsored by World Health Organization and non-governmental organizations;

c. Providing affordable prices for medicine, especially those under the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement,

d. Enhancing the implementation of Direct Observed Therapy, Short-Course (DOTS) through the exclusive Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR TB) placed under the shape of mobile and decentralized units;

e. Creating a prevention drug, that will increase the immunization of healthy people, to help lessen the chances of people catching Tuberculosis;

14. Expresses its intent to eradicate MDR-TB and XDR-TB altogether in the near future by the means of:a. Standardizing the Greenlight Committee Initiative (GCI) to support the

expansion of the MDR-TB treatments and care, to promote technical assistance to countries in the implementation and application of the standardized treatments, to monitor and evaluate GLC-approved programmes in ensuring their adherence to WHO and United Nations guidelines, and assist the development of policies on national and global level to control MDR-TB;

b. Calling upon Member States to offer their financial assistance for Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) for the development of cheaper and more effective drugs for MDR-TB and XDR-TB;

15. Recommendsa regular bi-annual conference, held by Member States in order to create a national policy, which includes the framework and funding efforts to achieve the mitigation of Tuberculosis;

16. Encourages global and private-public partnership with an aim to eradicate tuberculosis in the near future by the means of:1. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

a. Encouraging partnership between government and civil societies to establish community-based, grassroots health care services and information systems, with a focus of civil societies for vulnerable groups, including people suffering from HIV/AIDS;

b. Encouraging partnership between government and non-governmental organizations to assist in the monitoring and assessment of the implementation of existing national and global policies, the distribution of drugs to unreachable areas, and knowledge transfer for local doctors and health service workers;

c. Encouraging partnership between government and multinational corporations with corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, especially those in pharmaceutical and hospital industry, to assist in

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY Draft Resolution 1.1knowledge transfer and research and development of innovative tools and drugs to combat TB;

d. Encouraging partnership between government and media—including news outlets and social medias—to promote anti-discrimination campaign aimed at eliminating misconceptions and wrong stigma of the society in regards to tuberculosis;

2. GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPa. Encouraging bilateral agreements and the development of national

laws to employ strict screening policies for immigrants upon their arrival to resolve cross-border issues;

b. Encouraging a universal standard for tuberculosis treatments and prevention programmes;

c. Implementing effective monitoring, evaluation, and impact measurement system for existing initiatives, global or otherwise, including The Global Fund, DOTS and DOTS+, as well as the Stop TB Strategy, to ensure political commitment, effective drug supply and management system, as well as standardized treatment for tuberculosis patients;

17. Remains actively seized on the matter.