Topic: Managing Secondary Effects of Disease Outbreaks
Country: Venezuela
Delegate Name: Shelby Mendham
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Venezuela position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Venezuela has been dealing with an outbreak of a virus going by the name of Zika, this year alone seven hundred thousand people have been infected. Zika is a virus that is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and it can be sexually transmitted. The symptoms are mild and many people won’t experience them, but if a pregnant woman is infected with the Zika virus her baby can contract microcephaly. Many people in Venezuela are Catholic, the religion doesn’t believe in contraceptives meaning Zika can be easily spread from person to person. With Venezuela's economy in a crisis, this leads to a shortage of medical supplies and doctors. This makes people leave the country seeking medical attention, especially pregnant women.
Having access to medical resources is important when a virus has began to spread rapidly throughout a country. With the Venezuelan economy in the middle of a crisis funding for these resources can be very limited. While a treatment for Zika has not been found there are ways of preventing the spread of this virus. Involvement of the UN could help Venezuela gain access to these needed supplies, relieving some of the stress of worrying about Zika being transmitted, and begin properly educating people on how to prevent the spread of this virus. Having the UN involved in and sending aid to help not just Venezuela but the surrounding countries and the rest of Latin America could help to stop the Zika crisis immensely and so Venezuela would support any resolution offering aid or guidance in the fight against Zika.
