Committee: WHO
Topic: Ebola
School: Williamston High School
In 1976, a new virus was discovered in two simultaneous outbreaks one in Nzara, South Sudan, and the other one being in Yambuku, DRC. It spread and it killed everybody it came into contact with. They named it Ebola hemorrhagic fever after the Ebola river in the DRC. Ebola is most likely transferred to humans by wild animals such as fruit bats. As the years went on, Ebola continued to kill while spreading fear everywhere it went. In 2014 the disease was confirmed in west Africa and spread to seven more countries including Italy, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 2014-2016 outbreak claimed the lives of 11,325 confirmed cases. On August 1st, 2018 the WHO announced there was an outbreak of Ebola in the DRC. This outbreak continues to rage on in 2019 shows no sign of slowing down. The WHO needs to do much more in order to truly get ahead of this disease.
As a country who has suffered outbreaks of other contagious diseases, Morocco understands the need to solve this problem quickly and efficiently to ease the suffering and pain of hundreds. Although Morocco has never had an outbreak of Ebola, we have fought against many other diseases such as Smallpox and Meningococcal Meningitis which have now been quelled by vaccinations and herd immunity. Morocco understands the differences of nations but asks for an open mind when it comes to this dire situation. If Ebola is not stopped now while it is still weak in the DRC, it will spread to more populated areas where it will not be able to be contained easily. By working together and putting our best foot forward we can help to vanquish this PHEIC, and we must come together as the WHO to come up with new and effective ways to limit the spread of Ebola.
Morocco would like to see three major things discussed in committee. The first is an updated education plan that could include how the disease is transferred, what to do when a loved one is infected, what a person could do to prevent Ebola, and what someone could do to help others. Morocco would also like to see more funding for both the rVSV-ZEBOV-GP or Merck vaccine and the Johnson and Johnson vaccine that are both being developed and tested right now. If funding is increased than that could mean that the vaccine can be green lit and distributed world-wide. The third thing that morocco would like to see is a plan that would help an infected countries as soon as people start getting sick. This would only be for countries who wanted it but it would make sure that diseases were taken care of quickly and efficiently.
- Emily Preston
