Topic:
Country: Germany
Delegate Name: Sophia Conrad
Delegate: Sophia Conrad
Country: Germany
Committee: World Health Organization
Topic: Expanding Access to Healthcare
The United Nations first began seriously addressing the issue of healthcare in 2015 by establishing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 3 focuses on “good health and well-being”. It is important to provide all people with the necessary access to “essential healthcare services” without incurring a heavy financial burden. Many countries are still struggling with this goal. Myanmar, Costa Rica, Mexico and several other nations had not tracked any progress in 2021. These areas often lack hospital employees, doctors and nurses, as well as hospital beds and locations. The COVID 19 pandemic caused some digression in providing consistent healthcare, and prompted healthcare officials to realize unaddressed issues, such as lack of preparedness for pandemics and medical patents in emergencies.
The UN had made progress in this area prior to the pandemic, passing several resolutions to promote healthcare, including the Primary Healthcare and Community Health Workers resolution passed in May of 2019. The UN has also passed the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan as well as the Strategy Update in an effort to curb the effects of the virus on the development goal. Although these initiatives have helped usher in progress, high income and OECD nations are at an obvious advantage over low-income countries.
Thus far, Germany has shown progress towards achieving this goal, and particularly succeeds in the area of universal healthcare. Germany promotes a universal healthcare system and founded the first social health insurance system in 1883. Health insurance originally covered blue collar workers, but expanded until 2007 when universal healthcare was finally achieved in the nation. Germany offers Statutory Health Insurance in addition to the Long-term Care Services guaranteed by the government. All insurance plans, regardless of sickness fund or private insurance, are funded by the same providers, allowing them to be provided for in all hospitals regardless of insurance specifics.
In order to truly achieve this Sustainable Development Goal, assistance in funding is needed from high-income nations to promote infrastructure, employment, and supply. Nations which are financially able should be encouraged to add to their national plans and agendas to further progress towards this goal and show true progress. More specific goals should also be devised to meet this goal, such as quotas for hospital beds, staff, doctors, and nurses, as well as locations in comparison to population. Germany looks forward to working with other nations, specifically those who have developed similar healthcare plans such as Australia, and Canada. By passing additional resolutions together, we can continue to make progress towards achieving this Sustainable Development Goal globally.
