Topic:
Country: Algeria
Delegate Name: Leah Milligan
11/22/23
Submitted to: World Health Organization
From: Algeria
Subject: Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention
Both aspects of Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention are crucial to maintaining a healthy, peaceful and economically stable world. Pandemic preparedness means having the plans and equipment to eradicate a disease as soon as it is noticed. Pandemic prevention is having equipment and plans to reduce the risk of even having a pandemic. And while Algeria believes both aspects are crucial, we believe that the most benefit comes from pandemic prevention. When we work to prevent, we ultimately save resources and lives.
Algeria has a past of struggling with outbreaks, but dedication to eradicating diseases has been worth it, as seen by the accomplishment of being the second country in Africa to eliminate malaria(1), a deadly and heartbreaking virus. And while Covid-19 has created quite a few challenges to pandemic prevention, we still continue to work to prevent diseases.
Algeria is one of the few African countries that provides free healthcare to all of its citizens(2), which has improved our ability to prevent diseases. This provides easier access to prevention equipment, specifically vaccines, which is possible because free health care means citizens don’t have to go out of their ways, and paychecks, to prevent an outbreak, therefore contributing to pandemic prevention.
Another important subtopic is access to a well trained health workforce. According to the Africa CDC, “Prevention and reduction of Malaria transmission can be done by vector control strategies which include insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying.”(3) If this were to be done, there would be no need to continuously spend money on getting rid of mosquitos, when we can spend less to make sure mosquitos never come; ultimately saving lives and money. There is no way to prevent a disease without a well trained workforce, though. This is why, for this committee, Algeria is suggesting that the World Health Organization develop a WHO-sponsored disease prevention and preparedness training program. This would involve a month-long course that would train any citizen how to do things such as setting up mosquito nets and teaching how to safely use mass bug spray safely. The cost would pay off because after the disease is eradicated, there will be no need to spend so much funding on supplies to end a never ending disease , and funding could be used to better improve healthcare systems elsewhere. .Algeria looks forward to collaborating with other nations to find feasible methods of pandemic preparedness and prevention
(1)WHO. Algeria.pdf. 2021, www.ghsindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Algeria.pdf.
(2)“A Guide to the Healthcare System in Algeria for Expats.” Expat Financial – Global Insurance for Expats, expatfinancial.com/healthcare-information-by-region/african-healthcare-system/algeria-healthcare-system/#:~:text=Algerian%20Healthcare%20System%20for%20Expats. Accessed 23 Nov. 2023.
(3)Malaria. (n.d.). Africa CDC. Retrieved November 23, 2023, from https://africacdc.org/disease/malaria/#:~:text=Prevention%20and%20reduction%20of%20Malaria
