Topic:
Country: Brazil
Delegate Name: Eve Orban
In the year 2020, the world faced the biggest global health disaster of the century: the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has had devastating economic and societal effects. The world’s collective GDP fell by 3.9 percent, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. More than 50% of households in emerging and advanced economies were unable to sustain basic consumption for more than three months due to income loss in 2020. The world output by the end of 2021 was more than 4 percentage points below the pre-pandemic trend. It created unrest in society and unusual changes in lifestyle- the amount of employees working remotely prior to the pandemic was 30%, compared to 48% at present. In quarantine, there was an increase in domestic violence and feelings of isolation and depression due to lack of outside contact. Most importantly, the virus has claimed over 6 million lives. The world simply was not ready for a calamity like this.
Brazil faced heavy struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nation’s case count- the second highest globally- is 30 million with over 700,000 calculated deaths. Their GDP went down by roughly 4.3 percent during 2020. Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, expressed skepticism about the preventative procedures that were being implemented worldwide and also generated conspiracy theories regarding the disease. This led to a slower governmental response and clashes between himself, others within the government, and the Brazilian people, leading to what many consider a “failure” to correctly combat the disease. After this crisis, Brazil, under the office of Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, who has criticized Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, is committed to bolstering their Unified Healthcare System (SUS) and preventing another such disaster. Brazil is involved with the Pan American Health Organization, which monitors the performance of the health sector, facilitates learning, fosters the improvement of methodologies and technologies, and encourages sustainability and the exchange of successful experiences. In 2022, Brazil signed a 2022-2027 Country Cooperation Strategy with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, in which one of the points was the goal to recover, improve and strengthen health services and priority programs impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bolsa Family Grant and The Auxílio Brasil Program aim to address impoverished parts of the country and provide them with equitable care.
The Federative Republic of Brazil encourages the United Nations to bolster and create more initiatives to increase pandemic preparedness, such as equitable access to vaccinations and healthcare, regional collaboration, technology to provide healthcare services, and the implementation of necessary measures to reduce the spread of disease. Countries should join initiatives like the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) in order to support programs that aim to solve pandemic related problems. Brazil is willing to donate money and resources to lower-income nations in order to help the strengthening of global healthcare.
