Topic: HIV/AIDS
Country: Poland
Delegate Name: Ella Satterthwaite
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Poland position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
HIV and AIDS are very real and prevalent threats to the health of people around the world today. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is an STD that can be spread through through some bodily fluids, and it leads to AIDS. Once someone has contracted HIV, the virus begins to break down the immune system focusing on the extermination of CD4 T cells. Eventually, once the count of these white blood cells falls below 200 cubic millimeters, you are officially diagnosed with AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS leaves the sufferer susceptible to illnesses and cancers that could normally be fought off. HIV and AIDS have no cure, but can be treated with ART (antiretroviral therapy) to help slow down the effects of the disease. Using PrEP (a combination of the antiviral drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine) daily, one can also combat the disease before it starts. As reported by multiple clinical trials, PrEP can reduce the chances of an HIV infection by about 90%.
According to UNAIDS around 36.9 million people around the globe are afflicted with HIV, and only 21.7 million are accessing treatment. In Poland, an estimated 30 thousand people have HIV and about 1,000 new cases are reported every year. Poland recommends HIV testing and offers free and confidential testing to those who want it, in an effort to identify those in need of help. Citizens of Poland with HIV have the same rights as those who do not. Poland criminalized (article 161 criminal code) the intentional spread of the disease in 1997, though the first time the law was used was 2007. A document released by the National AIDS centre details how the Eastern borders of Poland, provinces such as Warmia and Mazury, are less epidemiologically secure when it comes to HIV infections because of their close proximity to Kaliningrad. Rates of HIV have been steadily rising in these provinces, which is a concerning correlation to the fact that Kaliningrad has some of the highest rates of HIV infection in Europe. Poland is focusing on putting more emphasis on preventative treatments along this border and throughout the backcountry of Poland. In another effort to curb the epidemic, Poland has integrated and consolidated ARV (antiretroviral) programs around the country (in response to the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS) and now provides free access to them as long as an individual meets ARV criteria.
Poland supports and complies with the World Health Organization’s suggestions, and looks favorably upon passing more resolutions to help with the AIDS crisis. In a statement to the UN general assembly in 2008, representative Mr. Adam Fronczak of the Polish Ministry of Health expressed his full support on the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) and the Political Declaration (2007). He continued on to speak of the merits of Poland’s programs for those with HIV and AIDS “everyone who meets medical criteria, including marginalized populations, people in penitentiary centres and asylum seekers, overall 3,500 patients, receive treatment”, “Poland was the first country in Eastern and Central Europe to offer a free-of-charge access to antiretroviral medicines and tests, … to people who meet medical criteria”. He also expressed concern about the “limited financial resources” provided to combat HIV/AIDS. It is the wish of Poland, and assumedly the rest of the UN, that universal access to HIV tests and treatments become a reality. Poland wishes to discuss funding for HIV programs and the accessibility and advancements of preventative and antiretroviral treatments.
