Topic: Healthcare as a Human Right
Country: Czech Republic
Delegate Name: Natalie Shabahang
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Czech Republic position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
A healthy and prosperous nation begins with healthy citizens. Without the most fundamental of human necessities, how can a nation progress to the heights of success? Furthermore, health care can help prevent the unnecessary loss of important civilians via epidemics. The issue of health care as a human right, therefore, remains of paramount importance. The Czech Republic’s health system has undergone serious changes in the past few decades, specifically due to the transition toward the market economy after 1989. Some specific changes include the recent introduction of a free choice of a general practitioner, direct access to specialists and specialist departments, and the emergence of the private health sector. However, though still changing, the Czech Republic’s policies are based on three “interconnected pillars,” according to the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic: the insured person, covered by the Act on Public Health Insurance, his or her insurance provider, and the care provider itself.
Less-developed countries may have several reasons for refusing to recognize a universal right to health care, including a lack of the necessary funds or resources to provide equal health care for all and a belief that health care is not something that the government should provide. At the same time, more developed countries may have different reasons for this decision, mostly pertaining to economic issues and policies. However, the Czech Republic maintains that basic health care should be provided to all its citizens, and it believes that public health insurance is an important part of this basic right. With insurance, people have the freedom to worry less about financial issues and more about their health, which is the goal of this assembly. To achieve this goal, nations can collaborate to decide on the minimum amount of security that the government should directly provide to each citizen.
The Czech Republic believes that states should provide this health insurance (see above), rather than merely providing the “legal framework” to make such policies possible. Though some countries with more pressing financial issues to attend to may be opposed to such policies, the Czech Republic is confident that a compromise is within reach.
