United Nations

GENERAL ASSEMBLY
World Health Organization (WHO)
2014
First Committee

Draft Resolution 1.1

31st May

Sponsors: Afghanistan, France, Japan, Netherlands, Romania, Thailand, United States of

America
Signatories: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo, Germany, Myanmar, Pakistan,
Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam
Topic: 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;

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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 Assemblys 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 multidrugresistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis;

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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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c. Making available sufficiently trained and motivated staffs in order to
enable diagnosis treatment and care on tuberculosis including multidrug 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 nongovernmental 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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a. 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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i. 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 WHOs 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

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and 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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knowledge transfer and research and development of innovative tools
and drugs to combat TB;
d. Encouraging partnership between government and mediaincluding
news outlets and social mediasto promote anti-discrimination
campaign aimed at eliminating misconceptions and wrong stigma of
the society in regards to tuberculosis;
2. GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP
a. 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.