Topic: Stopping the Spread of Disease Across International Borders
Country: Norway
Delegate Name: Peyton Goethe
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Norway position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
Because our world has the ability to travel across other borders, our population is exposed to many different environments. Some of this exposure means a higher risk of contracting an infectious disease. While a quarantine has the possibility of isolating an infected country for travelers and other nations, this method is only instituted when an outbreak has already occurred. At this point, keeping the disease from spreading is a difficult task, and the country’s borders must be carefully considered. Without cooperation from all countries, travel will not be safe enough to foster disease-prevention. Norway understands the necessity of of implementing substantial barriers against outbreaks by introducing tactics that balance costs and benefits.
In order to reduce the risk of an infected person entering the transportation network, some might propose stricter border controls. This practice would be irrelevant to Norway because a large portion of Norway’s border is the Arctic Ocean, and in the past Norway has been exposed to waterborne illnesses. The rest of Norway’s borders have remained open as part of the Schengen agreement, which eliminates all internal border controls within countries. In the case of an outbreak, this would negatively impact any efforts to quarantine in the case of a disease outbreak. Norway is currently unwilling to sacrifice any individual’s right to freely move among countries. Screening travelers during an outbreak of any infectious disease will allow Norway and any other countries who implement the device to assess the health of refugees.
Because national sovereignty institutes that nations should isolate their own issues, Norway would be prepared to offer aid to other countries in response to an outbreak of infectious disease. As an ally of the European Union, Norway and other European countries collaborate in extensive research of diseases that threaten the global population. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health is part of of several international networks that ensure communications of epidemic warnings and can affect spread of infection throughout countries by alerting other nations that are at risk of the pathogens.
