Topic: Managing Secondary Effects of Disease Outbreaks
Country: Panama
Delegate Name: Rachel Thomas
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Panama position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
When hearing about disease outbreak, the focus is always pertained towards the victims and those directly affected by the sickness. News articles and television reports are always broadcasting the images of the people and the tragedies they go through, but rarely do they focus on the country after the epidemic. Although it is true that the tangible effects are seen on the citizens, people fail to recognize what happens to the country as a whole. The economy, culture, and society can be greatly impacted after the aftermath of disease, which transforms the people inside. After the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, the most influential factor controlling economic activity was fear, the aversion caused by fear of contagion. This led to a decrease in GDP growth for Sierra Leone (11.3 to 8.0%), Liberia (5.9 to 2.5%), and Guinea (4.5 to 2.4%). How do we prevent this from happening to Panama? In North and South America alone, there are an estimated 3 to 4 million infections of the Zika virus, which is now spreading explosively. That is the problem we currently face today.
This year, Panama has experienced a Zika virus outbreak, which has altered the country greatly. The impacts on tourism and airline industries, investment, and loss of productivity are things that need to be addressed. To battle chikungunya, another mosquito borne pathogen that hit Panama in 2014 (and is still apparent today), the government released genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. These mosquitoes are the transmitters of dengue, yellow fever, and Zika. However, this batch was tweaked so that should their male mosquito and a wild female one reproduce, any offspring from the union would die before reaching reproductive age. The insects were released up to three times a week, over a period of up to 22 months during the trials—the idea being a smaller diseased mosquito population would equal lower chances of the virus spreading. Results showed a 90% reduction of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Six years later, however, and the Zika virus has arrived. Currently, there is no vaccine for Zika. One of the major issues concerning the Zika virus inside our country is the effects on pregnancy and offspring. Although Panamanian health authorities are implementing public health measures by conducting vector control activities, distributing informative handouts and carrying out educational activities, there have been a total of 95 suspected cases of Zika. 66% of these cases are women. There is a strong scientific consensus that the virus causes neurological problems complications such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (progressive muscle weakness that can lead to paralysis) and microcephaly (decreased head size that may lead to developmental issues) in children born to mother pregnant with the disease. In Cape Verde, only 44 of 165 pregnant women gave birth without abnormalities, which shows us that the number of babies with abnormalities is high at 73%. The population of our country could face some complications if the Zika virus continues to spread, resulting in lower birth rates and high mortality rates. Children with microcephaly may not have the ability to achieve their full cognitive potential because they are generally born with impaired cognitive and physical development. Moreover, children who are physically and cognitively disadvantaged are less likely to attend school, resulting in lower educational achievement. In fact, American Airlines has even been providing refunds for pregnant women going to Panama, as well as other hotel and cruise lines. Although the effects of this are not quite major yet, in the long run, the tourism as well as the airline industry will be losing significant revenue if the outbreak continues to spread. The World Bank Group has made 150 million dollars immediately available in order to support Latin American countries impacted by Zika. Their initial estimates of the short term impact on the economy are modest: a total of 3.5 billion dollars, or .06% GDP. Countries of whose economies that depend on tourism could be effected even more, and since Panama is enriched with interesting culture and the famous Panama Canal, our country could be significantly changed.
The Republic of Panama is aware of how easily disease can spread and how it can so quickly impact lives. Our country recommends the use of genetically modified mosquitoes in order to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that cause multitudinous diseases. Affected countries are urged to scale up vector control efforts and ensure that individuals and communities are aware of how to protect themselves from bites and how to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. We also advise travelers, especially pregnant women, to stay away from countries with Zika, as there can be some serious birth defects. Governments should educate their citizens to take precautionary measures in order to ensure their safety. By using genetically modified mosquitoes, cautioning visitors to stay away from infected areas, and reaching out to other economies for help in order to save the airline and tourism industries from economic downturn, the secondary effects of diseases will be alleviated for the people of the country.
