World Health Organization (WHO)
Chair: Nicholas Gates
The World Health Organization (WHO) was created as a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1940 to deal with all matters related to international public health. As stated in its Constitution, the objective of the WHO can be summarized as, “. . . the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health.” The WHO Constitution was ratified in the year 1946 and operations were formally established in 1948, based out of Geneva, Switzerland. While broadly defined, the duties of the WHO have centered around analyzing world health trends, establishing worldwide health initiatives, and facilitating cooperation among health agencies around the world in the interest of the greater. To this end, the WHO has established a six-point agenda - including two health objectives, two strategic needs, and two operational approaches - by which it can fulfill its duties:
1) Promoting development
2) Fostering health security
3) Strengthening health systems
4) Harnessing research, information and evidence
5) Enhancing partnerships
6) Improving performance
Some of its first efforts included overseeing a push for tuberculosis inoculation on the global level and establishing an initiative to educate people about malaria. In recent years the organization has done substantial work on communicable diseases and has attempted to establish life and lifestyle guidelines for a healthy world. They continue to do more general research and initiatives, but they are also very hands-on with a number of initiatives and emergency work. On all levels, the WHO is an arbiter of world health whose influence has been, and continues to be, felt in a profound way.
TOPIC ONE: KROKODIL ADDICTION
Krokodil, or desomorphine, is an extremely addictive opioid. It is so titled because of its side-effect of turning the user’s skin black, green, and scaly in a way similar to that of a crocodile. It is a derivative of morphine that is a fast-acting sedative and pain-reliever, many times more potent than normal morphine. However, it affects users for a smaller period of time and is far more devastating than traditional morphine and opioids. It eats the flesh, causing phlebitis and gangrene, and symptoms of withdrawal/addiction can begin after just one use. Users are not expected to live long while using the drug, with some dying within just a few uses. Binge users exhibit memory loss, speech problems, and loss of motor functioning.
Consequently, krokodil is often colloquially referred to as a “zombie drug” because it basically eats people alive and destroys them. The DEA has now labeled it as one of the most dangerous drugs. Nonetheless, its popularity and usage has spiked in recent years. An estimated 100,000 people have used the drug in Russia, as well as 20,000 in Ukraine. Extent of usage in the United States is not well-known at the moment, but is a pressing concern. This is mostly the case because the drug can be prepared at home using a series of dangerous chemicals.
The mortality rate of users is huge, and the risk of it spreading is a huge concern. Krokodil use is particularly pronounced among young people who have short histories with drugs. A lot of people admitted to hospitals for krokodil treatment believed they were purchasing heroin, which was later found to be krokodil. The drug will continue to be a problem in the years going forward, and is something that the international community will need to take notice of above even the existing drug problems of the world.
Thus, the international community has been forced to take notice and deal with the problem of krokodil use. However, the issue is a lot more complicated than people would like it to be, as people - and especially young adults - cannot always be relied on to display common sense in regards to such a dangerous drug. People who use the drug often do so because they can make it at home for a lot less money than purchasing heroin and are oblivious to its drastic side-effects. Krokodil addiction is expected to get a lot worse before it gets any better.
KEY ISSUES TO CONSIDER
→ What types of initiatives are necessary to make people aware of krokodil and its dangers?
→ What role does the international community have to play in dealing with the problem of krokodil use and addiction? What role do the governments of individual countries have in dealing with it?
→ What are the trends in krokodil use? How might knowledge of these trends help governments and organizations deal with the problems of it going forward?
→ Is there any credible threat of krokodil, a cheap homemade drug with its origins in Russia, becoming a widespread issue in America (or elsewhere) as it did in Russia? Do different governments have a different role or level of responsibility in addressing the problem of krokodil use?
→ Where and how has krokodil addiction become a problem? How much attention and concern does it warrant giving? And how might organizations even be able to deal with it, if at all?
→ How do you address the problem of krokodil use without violating the sovereignty of United Nations member states? (see UN Resolution 51/12 “Strengthening cooperation between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other United Nations entities for the promotion of human rights in the implementation of the international drug control treaties”) How do you address the problem without violating the freedom of individuals?
RESOURCES
→ VIDEO - Krokodil: Russia’s Deadliest Drug (NSFW) - VICE
→ VIDEO - Siberia: Krokodil Tears Part 1 - VICE
→ Strengthening cooperation between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other United Nations entities for the promotion of human rights in the implementation of the international drug control treaties - UNODC (All resources from the UNHCR will prove to be valuable, so make sure to investigate this organization)
→ Drug-Related Resolutions and Decisions - UNODC
→ Krokodil: Flesh-eating ‘zombie’ drug ‘kills you from the inside out’
→ Krokodil, more perilous than heroin, possibly surfaces in Arizona
→ Don’t Believe the Hype About the “Flesh-Eating” Drug Krokodil
→ Desomorphine - Drug Enforcement Administration
TOPIC TWO: HEALTH IMPACT OF SYRIAN REFUGEES
In the wake of the senseless violence that has taken over Syria, and particularly the chemical weapon attacks of August 2013, many Syrians have made the decision to leave their country. This leaves most of them as refugees. As with all refugees, they are seeking a place that is safer to live in for both themselves and their children. A vast majority of Syrian refugees flee to the neighboring country of Lebanon. There are estimated to be well over 800,00 refugees in this country alone. Other popular destinations in the region for refugees include Turkey and Jordan. (All told there are about 2.5 million Syrian refugees as of the beginning of 2014.)
A major concern for these people is their health. Despite being in a war-ravaged and unstable country, Syrians at least had access to health-care and education. Now, as a result of their status as refugees - and in many cases as unidentified refugees - a lot of Syrians don’t have access to these basic necessities. They have limited access to water, very few proper sanitation facilities, and are at a huge risk of disease.
A lot of refugees fear registering and end up under bridges and on sidewalks, where governments and NGOs are unable to help them. Even those that are registered end up in crowded camps where there is overcrowding, increased food prices, and intense insecurity. Additionally, many Syrian children are losing many years of education as a result of switching countries. The opportunities to get Syrian adults up on their feet are expensive, both for the government and the refugees who lack the money, and opportunities for work are likewise limited.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of these countries, particularly Lebanon, can’t handle the influx of refugees to their countries. It increases overcrowding and reinforces the problems plaguing Syrian refugees. Aid has decreased as refugee numbers have grown and countries are unable to provide what they would like to to refugees, despite their best intentions. A shortage of funds has forced the UN refugee agency to cut their food aid to the countries refugees are fleeing to. This has left thousands of women and children without sufficient food and shelter. UN estimates place the percentage of Syria’s refugees that are women and children at 70 percent.
Historically, the Middle East has always had a refugee problem because of the violence that is endemic in a lot of those countries and the civil wars that happen as a result. The Middle East now has the highest number of refugees and asylum seekers in the world. According to the United Nations’ 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, facilitated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, a refugee is, “. . . is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country . . ." Every state has had difficulty in guaranteeing this because of the problems of overcrowding.
Consequently, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has had to oversee all matters relating to refugees, but has been unable to adequately address the health problems associated with being a refugee. The overcrowding strains the existing population, consumes resources, requires space that is not available, and limits the ability of the government of the host country to help those it might otherwise like to. The problem is one of the utmost prescience for the struggling Syria, but also one that can be used as a model to understand similar situations that take place around the world every single day.
KEY ISSUES TO CONSIDER
→ How can international cooperation be used to solve the crisis of Syrian refugees? What types of funding and programs are necessary to meet the needs of the Syrians who have been forced to leave their country?
→ What specific health problems do Syrian refugees face? How have these been caused by the environment they are now faced with and how can we work to fix them going forward?
→.How can we create more space for Syrian refugees to live? Are other countries outside of the region obligated to step in and help refugees in whatever way they can (granting asylum, for instance)?
→ What are the immediate short-term health problems associated with leaving refugees unregistered?
→ What types of services are necessary to resolve the health issues of Syrian refugees? How are Syrian children particularly at risk as a result of being refugees?
→ What do the problems of Syrian refugees say about how we deal with refugees in general? Can this be improved in any way? And how does that relate to the immediate short-term problems facing these displaced peoples?
→ What are the strengths and weaknesses of past UN resolutions relating to refugees? What about these resolutions will help us deal with the present problem of the Syrian refugees? (see below for link to past resolutions_
RESOURCES
→ General Assembly Resolutions Relating to UNHCR
→ Lebanon’s Burden: The Crushing Consequences of Syria’s Refugee Crisis - WILPF
→ The Growing Crisis in Syria - UNFPA
→ Syrian refugees straining health services in region, UN warns in new report - UN News Centre
→ Syrian Regional Refugee Response - UNHCR (All resources from the UNHCR will prove to be valuable, so make sure to investigate this organization.)
→ Lebanon Worries That Housing Will Make Syrian Refugees Stay - New York Times
→ Jordan: Cash assistance for Syrian refugees beset by mounting needs - International Committee of the Red Cross
→ WHO providing healthcare to Syrian refugees in and outside the camps - WHO EMRO
→ VIDEO - Humanitarian Crisis: Impact of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon - Wilson Center
→ Syrian crisis fuelling public health emergency, doctors warn - The Guardian