WHO takes steps to improve women's health worldwide

            The World Health Organization passed three resolutions on the topic of Women’s Health on Saturday. The first resolution focused on having mobile midwifes for women in need while the other two focused on the NGO Doctors Without Borders.

            Resolution 1.A was sponsored by Saudi Arabia and was a response to the global need for women’s health assistance. Resolution 1.B and 1.C focused on Doctors Without Borders and setting up shelters for women. . During the debate, all three resolutions were discussed simultaneously, and ultimately all resolutions passed through the committee.

            Women’s health and its importance have become major topics for debate. Every day in 2010 approximately 800 women died due to pregnancy and childbirth. Out of the 800, 440 deaths occurred in Africa and 230 in Southern Asia.

            Midwifes became a reoccurring feature of this topic.  A midwife specializes in giving care to pregnant women and lowering pregnancy complications. These resolutions proposed to provide all women in need with a midwife or other means of assistance.

            At the beginning of the debate, there was much clarification that the topic was women’s health, not rights. Some delegates gave their position on women’s rights but were quickly corrected.  The representative of Belarus was quick to correct anyone who made that mistake.

            While countries were giving their position papers, many touched on the related issues of education, women’s shelters, abuse and the dangers of childbirth.  Some delegates did mention that they did not want to infringe on the local cultures.

            At one point, Italy brought up the idea of changing laws about female employment. They were in support of women being able to get jobs in order to receive health care. This idea was quickly shot down by the Middle Eastern and African countries.

            Representatives were worried with the lack of proper health care in less developed countries, such as Ecuador. Many felt that this topic was extremely important and seemed eager to pass a resolution.

            However, many countries of North Africa were opposed to discussing this topic at length. Surprisingly, Morocco put forward a resolution. “We feel that this resolution will help women’s health, especially in childbirth; however it won’t infringe upon the local customs” reported Parker Jackson, the WHO delegate from Morocco.

Parker Jackson, delegate from Morocco, raises his placard to speak on women's health.

             The resolution encompassed many issues about women’s health and included provisions for creating women’s shelters. In addition, Doctors Without Borders was mentioned in the resolution, along with programs for mobile midwifes. The delegate from Morocco was very eager to push his resolution, 1.C forward, although most delegates wanted to discuss the issue at hand longer before voting. It did not take long before amendments were made to the resolutions and shortly after, they were passed.

World Health Organization passes resolutions on HIV/AIDS

            The World Health Organization on February 16 passed resolutions 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 on HIV/AID. These resolutions addressed the prevention of AIDS through efforts focused on the issue of contraceptives and education.

These resolutions stated that a global response was needed. There is inadequate knowledge in most countries about AIDS. Therefore public campaigns about education and AIDS are needed. The resolutions requested an increase in the supply of medications through the UN and other organizations, trusts, and foundations. The resolutions also encouraged the supply of contraceptives but did not mandate their use. It was hoped that these goals would be accomplished by 2015.

HIV is a type of retrovirus that infects human cells in the immune system. It is a highly infectious and lethal disease that has claimed more than 25 million lives over the last 30 years. In the year 2011, approximately 34.2 million people were living with HIV.

Most delegates agreed that the issue of HIV/AIDS is a pressing topic that needs attention. Most of their attention was focused on prevention in African countries. The main sponsors in all three resolutions were Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, and United Arab Emirates.

The delegates from India, the UAE, and Algeria discuss Resolution 2.1 on HIV/AIDS.

Many delegates gave their opinion on the importance of passing these working papers. “I thought this was a very pressing matter and needed much consideration. The idea was to create a perfect resolution that could deal with many issues,” said the representative of Saudi Arabia, Noveed Noordin.

Some delegates, however, decided not to speak on the topic. “We are not publically speaking of HIV and believe that no immediate action must be taken” said Tim Doan the representative of North Korea. Another delegate had something different to say.

Many delegates focused on education and long term goals.  “This resolution [Resolution 2.2] focuses on education as a means of lowering infection rate and it has a focus on research for a cure. We also wanted to make this resolution accessible for all faiths and cultures” reported the representative of Guatemala, Renee Blevins.

Before the resolutions were passed, there was much debate about contraceptives.  Some delegates argued that contraceptives were not necessary because of certain religious beliefs, while others stated that they remained viable solutions. For example, the delegates from Italy and Poland did not support contraceptives.

Another recurring aspect of the debate was the issue funding and its sources.  The delegates from Rwanda worried that low poverty countries would not be able to afford contraceptives.   Many delegates were opposed to UN funding. Resolution 2.3 mentioned organizations such as GiveWell, Medline Plus, and Just Love Safe that would fund the contraceptives and other necessities.