Topic: Rise of Antibiotic Resistant Pathogens
Country: United States
Delegate Name: Thomas Mehall
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All United States position papers GLIMUN 2010 committees
The issue of antibiotic resistant pathogens (ARP’s) is one of great severity, and could soon impact the health of everyone if not resolved efficiently and quickly. The United States experiences the same problems as many other countries do in that past carelessness with the handling of antibiotics has lead to new “super bugs” that are resistant to all forms of antibiotics. It is not until the past few years that the United States has come to recognize the problems of carelessly using antibiotics. The Unites States is now researching what harmful effects these new “super bug” viruses pose to the people of the United States and Other countries. MRSA is a potentially deadly antibiotic resistant pathogen that has been found in hospitals, and most recently in hog farms in the south. The fact that these bugs are being found in what will become a commercial product greatly alarms the United States. With these bugs being so close to our citizens it poses a great threat to health of our people. The United States is improving methods of using and producing antibiotics in order to reduce the number antibiotic resistant pathogens within the United States.
It is imperative that the United Nations aid in an international effort to reduce the number of ARP’s currently found within the world and to be able to stop that number from increasing. MRSA is just one example of how an ARP can spread to an industry that is so close to people’s lives. If more of these spread to the agricultural and food industries than the result could be devastating to a countries people. Many countries may not possess the funding needed to stop the spread of ARP’s within their own countries; this is where the United Nations can aid these countries by providing funding for the necessary equipment and programs. An international effort is needed in order to stop the ARP’s from spreading to far.
All countries should support an international effort to stop the spread of ARP’s. As with many diseases, the ARP’s have no conception of country boundaries so they can spread anywhere and everywhere if not looked after and taken care of. It is important for those countries close to each other to decide on an international effort to stop the spread of ARP’s.
For a country to not want to join a multi-national effort to join would be detrimental to that country, and it would impede on the efforts of other countries. Countries both rich and poor need to cooperate in order to effectively stop the ARP’s. Action should be taken quickly as to eliminate this problem swiftly and entirely.
