Position Paper

World Health Organization

Country: United States of America

Delegate: Javier Rosales Martinez
Committee: WHO
Topic: Non Communicable Diseases in America

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) the term Non Communicable
Diseases or NCDs refers to a group of conditions that are not mainly caused by an acute
infection, result in long-term health consequences and often create a need for long-term
treatment and care. These conditions include cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and
chronic lung illnesses. 80.7% of all accounting deaths in the Americas are a direct product of
a NCD. The PAHO has been successfully tracing a path to make NCD the World Health
Organization priority #1 after the global pandemic of Covid-19 has ceased. Political
commitment has been archived from many UN nations to promote this cause.

Inside the United States of America the Non Communicable Diseases situation has been of
great concern for the government, making this topic the leading cause of death and
disabilities of the U.S.A. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention of the
US there is an estimate of two hundred million US citizens living and daily fighting against at
least one NCD, of which 3.9 people perish every year. At least 6 of every 10 U.S. adults have
a NCD and at least 4 out of 10 U.S. adults are suffering with two or more NCDs. It is clear
that the population inside the United States of America is facing a social crysis as many of its
working population is in a certain risk of sudden death or having a life-lasting disability.

A real concern for the citizens of this delegation are all the complications that come within
the life of a NCD patient. Being in constant need of long-term management and the extremely
high cost of any of the medical procedures needed for someone with a NCD is just invisible
for almost all of the population that suffers from this topic.

Having a Non Communicable Disease would be in most cases of almost any nation a faith to
be suffering not only what is being discussed but many health disparities around any social
context. Difficulties to perform what some would consider a normal work, being able to have
a socially active life or even making activities that someone would consider very simple yet
essential like driving or cooking. Suffering an NCD comes with the need for healthcare
providers, many times paid off by insurance or family members. This is not a solution.
Millions can not afford to pay expensive insurance for someone with a NCD and much less a
healthcare program for someone who needs it. Inside the United States of America, a crisis
revolving around the free health care system has been rising in the past few years. Many of
these protests and requests for reforms had been caused by the incapacity of many family
members to provide expensive and complex forms of long-term treatments for diseases a
friend or member of their family could possess.

After analyzing the topic, the delegation of the United States of America has come up with 4
possible solutions for the discussing topic:

● Free Healthcare system: Having governments taking care of their own citizens in an
efficient way with an established modus operandi so issues like corruption and lack of
medical technology would not affect the process of treatment for the people.
● Education Around the Topic: There are some NDCs that can be avoided if the
person who suffers it would have been educated the correct way so he could have
avoided being another patient of a NDC.
● Strict International Laws Against the Monopoly of Pharmaceutical Companies:
Many pharmaceutical companies have had the monopoly of certain treatments for
certain NDCs. Freeing this market from a monopoly would force the company that
controls the medicine and/or treatments to be more reasonable with the prices they are
dealing with.
● Government Insurance: Many of these NDC can not be cured easily and cheaply.
The government providing insurance for those who can prove they can’t afford the
medical treatment would instantly relieve millions of people around the globe and
save many millions more.
References:
1. Pan American Health Organization. (2022). Estimaciones cuantitativas de la carga de
morbilidad atribuible a los principales factores de riesgo para enfermedades no
transmisibles en la Región de las Américas [Quantitative estimates of the burden of
disease attributable to major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases in the Region
of the Americas]. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 46. Retrieved from
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